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Cody Christie

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Blog Entries posted by Cody Christie

  1. Cody Christie
    For the first time in quite awhile, the Twins game was very enjoyable to watch on Friday night. Scott Diamond had his best pitching performance in his big league career by throwing a complete game shutout with only three hits surrendered. He was remarkably efficient by throwing less than 100 pitches during his nine innings on the mound. With some not so smooth outings in his last few appearances, it was good to see Diamond get a fantastic start under his belt and hopefully he can stay on track for the rest of the season.
     
    While Diamond was busy tossing a gem, the Twins offense blew up for 11 runs on the strength of 15 hits. Justin Morneau crushed a huge 3-run home run in the first inning to put the Twins up from the early going. Later in the game, Josh Willingham hit his team leading 26th home run of the season by sending one into the bullpen and he now has 76 RBI. Joe Mauer had two RBI and three hits to raise batting average to .332 for the year.
    ROCHESTER 1, SYRACUSE 2
     
    There was just not enough offense for the Red Wings on Friday evening. Danny Valencia was noticeably absent from the line-up with his call-up to the Twins so this could have taken a little away from the offensive output. But most of the credit should go to Yunesky Maya for holding the Red Wings to a single run over eight innings pitched with the lone run being scored on a home run from Chris Parmelee. Besides the home run from Parmelee, there were no other hits for the Red Wings during the entire game so there is not much else to discuss from an offensive standpoint.
     
    Jeff Manship pitched a very good game for Rochester as he tossed six innings with a couple earned runs. It was his first loss since May 11th and it's not often that a pitcher expects to get a loss when they only give up two runs. Lester Oliveros did very well in his three innings on the mound. He pitched three innings while allowing a single hit and striking out six to lower his ERA to 3.04 for the season.
     
    Before the game, there were a few different roster moves including the Red Wings. RHP Deolis Guerra was reinstated from the 7-Day Disabled List and he was replaced on the DL by RHP Daniel Sattler. As many fans heard about on Thursday's off day, Anthony Swarzak had to make a trip to the DL so RHP Luis Perdomo was called up to Minnesota for the first time. To take the place of Perdomo with Rochester, RHP Daniel Turpen was transferred from Double-A New Britain.
     
    NEW BRITAIN 9, READING 10
     
    The Rock Cats tried their best to comeback against the Phillies by scoring multiple runs in the last three innings but Reading had too much of a lead. There were five members of the Rock Cats to collect multiple hits in the game including 2-for-4 nights from Joe Benson and Rene Tosoni. Benson hit his second home run with New Britain and he knocked in three runs. Chris Herrmann matched the three RBI of Benson including his 22nd double of the season, the second most two-baggers on the team.
     
    Logan Darnell started for the Rock Cats and lasted five innings while giving up six earned runs on 10 hits. He didn't walk any batters but he only struck out one hitter and gave up two long balls for his eighth loss of the year. David Bromberg pitched a scoreless inning by striking out two of the four batters that he faced while on the mound. Edgar Ibarra got roughed up for the second straight outing by giving up three runs and only being credited for one out.
    FORT MYERS 6, BREVARD COUNTY 3
     
    Madison Boer picked up his first win since July 1st and his fifth win of the year. He threw six innings by giving up eight hits and three earned runs. The two home runs that he allowed were basically harmless since the Miracle jumped on starter Taylor Jungmann of the Manatees for six runs in under four innings. Clint Dempster and AJ Achter threw three hitless innings to finish out the victory for Fort Myers. It was the second hold fro Dempster and the fourth save for Achter.
     
    Steven Liddle was appearing in his fourth game for Fort Myers but he didn't waste any time making his mark with the Miracle. On this day, he went 4-for-5 with three runs scored and an RBI to raise his batting average to .583 during his second trip to the FSL. Lance Ray and Daniel Santana each had three hits to their credit but Ray knocked in three RBI including his 11th home run of the year. The only other member of the Miracle to have a hit was Michael Gonzales and he did collect an RBI.
    BELOIT 2, BURLINGTON 7
     
    The Snappers didn't manage any extra-base hits against the Bees and the team went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position so it's hard to come out on top with very little offense. Adam Pettersen had the only RBI for New Britain with his two-out RBI in the fourth inning. Miguel Sano had a hit for the third straight game but he hasn't had an extra-base hit since he hit a home run on July 19th. Kennys Vargas had a hat trick by striking out three times to lower his batting average to .211.
     
    Beloit sent Taylor Rogers to the mound for his first start since being called up from Elizabethton. He took the loss by giving up three earned runs on six hits over four innings. The worst part of his outing might have been the six walks that he allowed compared to his three strikeouts. Cole Johnson did very well in relief with four strikeouts and no hits in two innings. He lowered his ERA to 1.16 in nine games with the Snappers.
    ELIZABETHTON 9, GREENVILLE 12
     
    The Greenville Astros pounded out 17 hits against the pitching staff of the the E-Twins. Hudson Boyd got shelled for eight hits and four earned runs in 3.2 innings pitched. It was easily his worst start of the year as it only raised his ERA to 2.15 for the season and he hadn't given up more than one earned run in his last five starts. Christian Powell tried to relieve Boyd but he didn't fare much better by giving up four runs in a little over two innings on the mound. Tyler Duffey and Andrew Ferreira combined to give up three runs over the last three innings.
     
    Candido Pimentel lead the team with three hits in his four at-bats including his third double of the season and two RBI. The other E-Twins player with multiple hits was Adam Walker who went 2-for-4 with three runs scored, an RBI, and his seventh home run. Niko Goodrum only got one hit but his double did knock in his 26th, 27th, and 28th RBI of the year. Max Kepler seems to have found his man muscles by hitting his seventh home run of the season when he only had one home run during the last two years.
    GCL TWINS 12, GCL RED SOX 3
     
    The Twins might have gotten a glimpse of their future with Byron Buxton and Eddie Rosario in the same line-up on Friday afternoon. Rosario is rehabbing on the way back from an injury and he went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI before being lifted from the game. Buxton wouldn't be outdone by Rosario as he hit a home run of his own while going 1-for-3 with two runs and two RBI. Joel Licon and Jose Ramirez helped pace the offense with three hits each.
     
    A few different big name pitchers got into the game for the Twins. Two former first rounders, Kyle Gibson and Luke Bard, pitched scoreless outings to help improve their ERAs in the GCL. Alexander Muren picked up his second win of the season by tossing two innings without giving up a hit but he did walk three batters. It was good to see Muren not give up any runs for the first time in his last two appearances but his three walks were the most this season.
     
    ---
     
    Players of the Day for July 27th, 2012
     

    Hitter of the Day- Lance Ray (3-for-4, HR, 3 RBI)
     
    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l-4GiMgniCA/UBNNk8PgpfI/AAAAAAAADFs/OTBWOGj4174/s320/LanceRay.jpg
     
     
    Pitcher of the Day- Lester Oliveros (3.0 IP, 1 H, 6 SO)
     
    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uoMLBTALO-A/UBNOQWxL3NI/AAAAAAAADF0/bCE64eVkwlk/s320/LesterOliveros.jpg


     
    ---
    A Look Ahead- Saturday, July 28th Schedule
     
    Rochester @ Columbus- RHP Liam Hendriks
    New Britain @ Reading- RHP Steven Hirschfeld
    New Britain @ Reading- Game 2
    Fort Myers vs Brevard County- LHP Pat Dean
    Beloit @ Peoria- TBA
    Elizabethton vs Greeneville- RHP Angel Mata
    GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox- TBA
    ---
     
    If you have any question or comments about the minor leagues, leave them in the comments section and someone will be sure to answer them.
  2. Cody Christie
    It was a rough week for the Twins in Chicago as the team got swept by one of their biggest rivals in a three game set. Minnesota won't have to wait long to get another shot at the White Sox as Chicago will come to Minnesota at the beginning of next week. For now, the focus of the club will turn to the Cleveland Indians over the weekend, a series where the Twins could play spoiler to a team trying to get back into the division race.
     
    Even with the team playing some important games over the course of the next week, the focus of many fans will be on the trade deadline on Tuesday afternoon. The Twins are one of three teams in the American League that is a below the .500 mark by quite a lot and this should mean that the team will be sellers in the next handful of days. Players like Francisco Liriano and Denard Span have heard their names mentioned multiple times in the rumor mill. It should be an interesting couple of days to see what Terry Ryan can do with his first trade deadline since taking back the GM chair.
     
    Another Friday means a collection of links to enjoy before you head off for your weekend fun. Sit back and buckle up for this week's edition of "Friday Links-N-Thinks."
     

    It sounds like the Angels and Orioles are in the mix for a deal including Francisco Liriano.
    The trade market for Liriano seems to be fluctuating but at least there is still interest.
    The Reds have some interesting in adding Denard Span but it could cost them a pretty penny.
    If the Twins are going to trade any of the big three available bats (Morneau, Span, Willingham), it seems that the team is going to ask for a lot.
    One of the teams interested in Justin Morneau could be the Dodgers. They have money to spend but LA already added Hanley Ramirez to their line-up.
    What would the Twins outfield look like without Span manning center field?
    The Nationals are looking at adding middle infield depth in the form of a Jamey Carroll or Nick Punto type player. Could the Twins swing a deal that included Carroll and Span to the Nats?
    Even though Carl Pavano and Matt Capps will be on the DL until after the trade deadline, the Twins are hoping they will be able to get the players traded through waivers.
    Over the last two seasons, the Twins and the Astros have gone about losing in different ways. Which philosophy is better?
    Looking at the other trades made in the last couple weeks, it's a little easier to project the returns the Twins could get for their players.
    Someone is very excited that Luis Perdomo is joining the bullpen for the Twins.
    This photo of former Twins manager Tom Kelly was making the rounds on multiple sites this week. Apparently, "No Smooooking in the Metrodome" wasn't for everybody.


    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N_wAcUlReZQ/UBIVRa5iGHI/AAAAAAAADFc/91ITK5glRBg/s320/TomKellyZubaz.jpg

     

    Joe Mauer thinks that he can still win a championship in Minnesota so it's good to hear that he is staying positive.
    There was a sighting of Mauer's furriest fan in the stands at a game this week.
    Jason Marquis was unbelievably bad with the Twins and he has turned it around with a shift back to the NL as a member of the Padres.
    While Marquis was bad with the Twins earlier this year, Nick Blackburn is entering the same territory. Should the Twins just cut him loose?
    Glen Perkins is a player that everyone should root for.
    Aaron Hicks, one of the top prospects for the Twins, had a career day earlier this week and it's not too early to look at his future.
    The entire incident with Cal Ripken's mother was scary to hear about. Luckily, everything turned out much better than it could have ended.
    Topps gets creative with their baseball cards and this is sure a strange item to pull from a pack.
    Fans got a couple years off from the World Baseball Classic and now the sites for next year's tournament have been announced.
    Ever wanted to own an official World Series trophy? The trophy given to the 1912 Boston Red Sox is being auctioned off.
    The Indians had three birthday parties on the same day for the same person. That's a lot of birthday cake.

     
    My Weekly Rundown:
     

    Sunday: Sunday Links-N-Thinks
    Monday: Hendriks lost in translation to big leagues
    Tuesday: Tuesday's trip through the Minors
    Wednesday: Plouffe's injury could mean Valencia's return

     
    Video of the Week: Carlos Gomez has been known to be a show boat during his career and Twins fans will remember plenty of things that he did on the field. Earlier this week, he got a little excited over a deep foul ball and he trotted around the bases. Just watch the video because it will bring a smile to your face.
  3. Cody Christie
    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6Qdgqbf61Ng/UBCQSvFvHiI/AAAAAAAADFQ/-4pM2fCneSs/s320/Trevor+Plouffe+Danny+Valencia+Minnesota+Twins.jpg

    For what seems like the 100th time, the Twins are taking their time deciding whether or not a player should be put on the disabled list. Trevor Plouffe has an injury to his thumb and he has missed five consecutive games as he tries to recover. He tried to work out over the last couple of days and it sounds like gripping and swinging the bat have been tough for him to do. During the game on Wednesday afternoon, Plouffe was going to try and do some work in the cage. If everything went fine during this workout, he could avoid time on the DL but the Twins might be forced to call-up someone for the start of the homestand on Friday night.
     
    This has been a reoccurring theme over the last couple years as the team waits for a week or more after an injury to place a player on the disabled list. It's fine to give a player a couple days to try and work through some kind of nagging injury but the Twins often wait longer than it seems would be necessary. The earliest that Plouffe would see action again is on Friday and that is a week after the last game that he appeared in. If he was place on the disabled list, he would be forced to the sidelines of 15-days. This might not seem like a big deal but there are negatives from waiting to put a player on the DL.
     
    Over the course of the last couple days, the Twins have been forced to play with a little bit of a short bench. Plouffe's non-availability meant that Ron Gardenhire was left with of a bench composed of Drew Butera and Darin Mastroianni. Later in the game when Alexi Casilla left the game, the Twins were forced to turn to Mastroianni at second base, the first time he appeared in the infield as a big leaguer. He had played five games at second base with Rochester earlier this season but it still wasn't the ideal situation for the Twins.
     
    When Friday rolls around and the Twins make a decision on Plouffe's injury, one of the options to replace him on the roster could be Danny Valencia. A couple of season's ago it seemed like Valencia would be the solution at third base that the Twins had been searching for since the departure of Corey Koskie in the mid-2000s. His rookie campaign was outstanding before coming back to the pack in 2011. The third base job was still his at the start of the 2012 season but his poor offensive numbers and spotty defense were hard for the team to ignore. In 27 games at the big league level this year, he hit .190/.204/.290 with seven extra-base hits to his credit.
     
    By the beginning of May, the Twins had seen enough and Valencia was sent packing to Triple-A for the first time since 2010. The opening at third base allowed for the emergence of Plouffe as one of the best power hitting threats in the Twins line-up. After having over 1000 plate appearances in the big leagues, Valencia should find the pitchers in the minors much easier to hit. He has done a little better with Rochester but he hasn't exactly been hitting the cover off of the ball. In 67 games with the Red Wings, he has hit .250/.290/.400 with 16 doubles and seven home runs. He has been given plenty of opportunities since he has been batting in the middle of the line-up for most games in Rochester.
     
    A report came out earlier this month that Valenica is unhappy playing in the minor leagues. Chris Perez, a college teammate of Valenica and a relief pitcher for the Indians, went on to say that Valencia is working hard in the minor leagues and he was just waiting for another opportunity at the big league level. It looks like the time might have arrived for Valenica to get another shot with the Twins. The poor play by Valenica earlier this year allowed Plouffe to shine at third base. Now an injury to Plouffe could mean a second chance for Valencia after he was cast off to the minor leagues.
     
    Overall, it would most likely be a short call-up for whoever is picked to replace Plouffe on the 25-man roster. The Twins could continue to let Jamey Carroll start at third base with Brian Dozier and Alexi Casilla filling up the spots in the middle infield. The only infielders at Rochester that are on the 40-man roster are Valencia, Chris Parmelee, and Tsuyoshi Nishioka. Parmelee has been called up multiple times this season and Gardenhire has a hard time penciling his name in the line-up. Fans of the Twins might revolt if Nishioka was brought back to the big leagues. Pedro Florimon has been having a great month of July but he would need to be added to the 40-man roster to make it to Minnesota.
     
    If Plouffe has to go on the DL, it looks like the Twins might be forced to give Valencia the second chance that he has been waiting for...
     
  4. Cody Christie
    The Twins seemed to be sitting pretty on Tuesday evening after a couple of long balls from Josh Willingham and a very solid start from Cole DeVries. The bullpen took over in the seventh inning and the White Sox decided to put on a slugfest for the rest of the game. During the explosion by the bullpen in the final two innings, the Twins offense failed to score any more runs and the game ended with a final score of 11-4, an ugly blowout loss at the hands of the White Sox.
     
    Tomorrow afternoon, the Twins will try and salvage one game out of the series before heading home for six-games against Central Division foes. Nick Blackburn will take the mound to face off against Jake Peavy. But before we turn our heads to tomorrow, let's look at what happened today across the farm system for the Twins.
     
    ROCHESTER 1, SYRACUSE 6
     
    After scoring a run in the first inning, the Red Wings were shutout the rest of the way by the Chiefs pitching staff. It was the third loss in a row for Rochester after going 14-5 to start the month of July. Syracuse seems to have Rochester's number in recent games by beating the Red Wings in eight consecutive games, their longest current losing streak against any opponent in the International League.
     
    Brian Dinkelman, the lead-off hitter, started the game with a bang by knocking out his third home run of the season. He was also the only member of the Red Wings to manage more than one hit in the game with his double later in the game. In his last four games, Dinkelman is 8-for-14 (.571) with three doubles, a triple, and a home run. Danny Valencia hit his 16th double of the season but was left on base. After a brief trip back to the big leagues, Chris Parmelee returned to Rochester and went 1-for-3 with a walk.
     
    Shairon Martis made his second start since being called up from New Britain and it was his first quality start even though he got the loss. Over the course of six innings, he gave up three earned runs on five hits with four strikeouts. Bobby Lanigan gave up multiple runs for the first time in his last ten games with the Red Wings. All of the runs off of Lanigan came on a three-run home run in the seventh inning to turn a two run lead into a five run lead.
     
    NEW BRITAIN 3, BINGHAMTON 4
    New Britain did their best to claw their way back against Binghamton but the Mets proved to be too much for the Rock Cats. There wasn't a single hitter in the Rock Cats line-up with more than one hit and New Britain still out hit Binghamton in the game. There were plenty of extra-base hits with Oswaldo Arcia, Aaron Hicks, Joe Benson and Deibinson Romero all hitting doubles in the game with Benson driving in two runs during an eighth inning rally. In the end, there was not enough offense to get the victory for the Rock Cats.
     
    Blake Martin started the game and he was saddled with his fourth loss of the season after giving up three runs on three hits. It was his first loss since joining the rotation for the Rock Cats at the end of June. Marty Popham pitched over an inning of scoreless baseball by striking out two of the four batters that he faced. Jose Gonzalez gave up a run for the first time in his last three outings. It came on a home run off of the bat of Eric Campbell in the eighth inning. It was the second loss in a row for the Rock Cats but New Britain is 7-4 since July 16th.

    FORT MYERS 5, CHARLOTTE 6
     
    The Miracle took a two-run lead into the bottom of the ninth inning but the Stone Crabs would not go away quietly. Michael Tonkin surrendered a single with two outs that pushed two runs across the plate to tie the game and send the contest to extra innings. An error by Levi Michael in the bottom of the 11th allowed a runner to reach base and the next batter smacked a double to make Charlotte the victors on this evening. From reports out of Fort Myers, it was a weird play in which the runner fell down twice on his way around third and he still managed to score.
     
    There were some positives for the Miracle with Angel Morales hitting a two-run home run that stretched the Miracle lead to 5-2 at the time. Kyle Knudson, Lance Ray, and Anderson Hidalgo all had two hits in the game with Knudson hitting his eighth double of the season. The top of the order had a rough night with the first two batters, Jonathan Goncalves and Levi Michael, combining to go 0-for-10 with two strikeouts.
     
    Matt Summers was solid for the Miracle even though he was given a no decision. He pitched five innings and gave up two runs on five hits. Michael Tonkin gets the blown save for giving up the lead in the bottom of the ninth inning. The loss was charged to Ricky Bowen even though the lone run that he gave up was unearned.
     
    BELOIT (OFF DAY)
    A night after three Snappers pitchers combined to throw a seven hit shutout on Monday night, the team enjoyed an off day on Tuesday. The Snappers are playing .500 baseball in their last six games and now they hit the road for a stretch of six games away from home. Miguel Sano has gone hitless in his last four games to see his batting average drop to .240 for the season. This came on the heels of six games where he went 7-for-18 with two home runs, six RBI and six runs scored. At the beginning of the season, it looked like Sano was destined for Fort Myers by the middle of the season but he continues to need to work on his consistency.
     
    ELIZABETHTON 12, KINGSPORT 5
    Two three-run home runs helped to separate the E-Twins from the Mets. DJ Hicks hit one three-run shot in the first inning to put the Twins on top and Max Kepler hit his own three-run homer in the next frame. Jorge Polanco had a couple of hits and two RBI out of the nine spot in the batting order. By the end of the third inning, the Twins were up 10-0 and it seemed like the game was all wrapped up at that point.
     
    Even with the blowout loss, the E-Twins had to use seven different pitchers during the course of the game. Kaleb Merck got his second victory of the year by throwing two innings and allowing one run on a single hit. Travis Huber got hit hard in the final inning by allowing three runs on four hits. The team had to bring in Tyler Herr to get the last out of the game after Huber struggled during his time on the mound.
     
    GCL TWINS 6, GCL ORIOLES 1 (7 innings)
     
    In his second game since returning from the DL, Byron Buxton hit his second extra-base hit in as many days. He went 1-for-3 in the game with his second double of the season to raise his batting average to .258 in his last ten games. It is good to see Buxton finding his swing after missing almost two weeks with a hamstring injury. Joel Licon and Zach Larson each had two hits to pace the GCL Twins. Jose Ramirez managed to get two RBI without recording a hit.
     
    Kyle Gibson made his fifth start since coming back from Tommy John surgery and he didn't give up a run for the second start in a row. His two innings on the mound were perfect and he struck out two of the six batters that he faced. Gonzalo Sanudo picked up his first professional win by throwing three innings and giving up one run on four hits. He pitched last season in the GCL but never earned a victory so congratulations are in order for Mr. Sanudo.
     
    GCL TWINS 5, GCL ORIOLES 4 (7 innings)
    While the other game on this day was a little one sided, this game was much more of a nail biter with the GCL Twins squeaking out the win. Luke Bard, the 2012 Draft pick, made his first start as a professional and he lasted two innings by giving up one run on one hit with two strikeouts. The back and forth contest meant that Markus Solbach was the pitcher of record when the Twins took the lead for good. It was his second victory of the season for the native of Germany. Trent Higginbotham earned his first save for the 2012 year by throwing the last two innings and only giving up a single run.
     
    The offense of the GCL Twins was lead by a pair of 2-run home runs from Bryan Haar and Javier Pimentel. For both players, it was their first home run of the season. Kelvin Ortiz had a perfect day at the plate by going 3-for-3 with three singles spread out across the game. Byron Buxton didn't play in this game as the team tries to slowly bring him back from his injury.
     
    ---
     

    Players of the Day for July 24, 2012
     
     



    Pitcher of the Day- Matthew Summers (5 IP, 4 H, 2 ER)
     
    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BL_KYZGsmoU/UA9jlrPf4cI/AAAAAAAAC_4/ywPS3Ei8H_8/s320/MatthewSummers.JPG
     
    Hitter of the Day- DJ Hicks (3-for-5, 2B, HR, 3 R, 3 RBI)
     
    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hFhY4r70kXc/UA9j66S-ykI/AAAAAAAADAA/PTCryrVjMLE/s200/DJHicks.jpg


     
    ---
     
    A Look Ahead- Wednesday, July 25th Schedule
     
    Rochester vs Syracuse- RHP Esmerling Vasquez
    New Britain vs Binghamton- RHP BJ Hermsen
    Fort Myers @ Charlotte- RHP Matthew Hauser
    Beloit @ Burlington- LHP David Hurlbut
    GCL Twins @ GCL Rays- TBA
     
    ---
     
    If you have any questions or comments on the minor league system, leave them in the comments section and Seth or I will certainly answer them.
  5. Cody Christie
    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K_VClOccTc8/UA4Qt482pAI/AAAAAAAAC-I/EhjxB2NHgnc/s320/HendriksTranslation.jpg

    Twins fans have gotten a couple of different glimpses of Liam Hendriks since the September of last season. In that time at the big league level, the 23-year old pitcher has been less than underwhelming to the tune of an 0-7 record with an ERA of 6.71 in 12 starts. His struggles with the Twins have meant more than one trip back to Rochester this season after making the rotation out of spring training. The story of Hendriks with the Red Wings has been much different over the course of the 2012 campaign.
    Before last night when Hendriks lost his first game of the season for Rochester, the right-handed pitcher had a perfect 7-0 record in ten games started at the Triple-A level. His ERA of 1.74 was nearly as perfect over the course of those starts with one bad start at the end of May accounting for six of the 15 earned runs that he has allowed. If you take out this terrible outing, Hendriks has an eye-popping 1.19 ERA with 59 strikeouts in 68.1 innings on the mound. He seems to have the game figured out at the Triple-A level but something seems to get lost in translation when he gets the call to the big league level.
     
    Throughout his minor league career, Hendriks has been known as a control pitcher because he doesn't have overpowering pitches to get batters out. He relies on throwing the ball around the edges of the plate to force batters into making mistakes. In the minor leagues, this approach has served Hendriks well because he moved through the system fairly quickly and he made his MLB debut as a 22-year old. His ability to avoid walking batters in the minor leagues has been a feat to behold and he continues to impress with his ability to avoid giving up home runs, especially for a control pitcher.
    The qualities that have made Hendriks valuable during each stop along the way in the minor leagues have been absent during his time as a big league player. His outstanding walk rate of 1.5 BB/9 on his way to the big leagues has ballooned to 2.3 BB/9 as a starter with the Twins. He has also given up an average of 1.9 home runs per nine innings in the big leagues and that number sits at around 0.3 HR/9 in the minors. While Hendriks was with the Twins, he was left searching for his first career win at the MLB level and the struggles have clearly been present over his limited sample size of 12 starts and 61.2 innings pitched.
     
    It is hard to know what to expect from the Twins and their pitching staff over the course of the next few months. The team seems to be giving plenty of opportunities to pitchers that have less up-side than Hendriks. Players like Cole DeVries and Sam Deduno are older than Hendriks and they looked like career minor league players before the season began. During their limited amount of starts this season, each of these players has shown some good and some bad signs but it seems that they will continue to get opportunities in a starting rotation that needs plenty of help. Most Twins fans hope that Hendriks can be more of a long-term option over the likes of DeVries and Deduno but only time will tell if this is true.
     
    For next season, there are going to be plenty of openings for starting spots on the Twins roster. Francisco Liriano, Carl Pavano, and Scott Baker will all be free agents when the offseason arrives and this could leave some opportunity for other younger pitchers to step up and show that they belong with the big league squad. Out of the current members of the starting rotation, Scott Diamond and Nick Blackburn might be the two frontrunners for a spot in next year's rotation and Blackburn is far from being a lock. This leaves the remainder of this season as a try out for the rest of the untested pitchers and the coaching staff should get a pretty good look at each of these men.
     
    Over the course of the next week, the Twins will most likely part ways with Francisco Liriano and this will leave another opportunity for a pitcher to emerge as a viable option in the rotation of the future for the Twins. Hendriks has done almost everything that he could at the Triple-A level and a call-up seems eminent at some point before the season is through. The Twins need Hendriks to find success at the major league level so the team can be comfortable penciling him into the rotation for the start of next season. It is up to Hendriks to find a way to translate his minor league success into respectable numbers at the next level.
  6. Cody Christie
    My usual edition of "Friday Links-N-Thinks" had to be pushed back because of some other commitments. Since I am in the process of moving back to North Dakota after two years in the Cities, it has been a crazy couple of weeks of packing boxes and moving furniture. Remember to keep checking in as I will continue to post about the Twins in the midst of moving back to my home state. My regular schedule just might need to switch itself up a little bit in depending on when I have internet access and when I am not busy moving boxes.
     
    The Twins put together a decent weekend in Kansas City with a series win for the first time in weeks. It was great to see Ryan Doumit get home runs from both sides of the plate on Sunday and Sam Deduno was able to pick up his first professional victory. Only a couple days before, Casey Fien had earned his first professional victory when the Twins won on Friday night. Now the team will head to Chicago to face a White Sox team that limped out of the weekend by being swept in Detroit.
     
    As the trade deadline starts to sneak closer, it is going to be interesting to see what the Twins are able to get for some of their veteran players. For now, sit back and enjoy this edition of "Links-N-Thinks."

    Every team can feel a little stress at the trade deadline.
    The affiliation of Twins minor league teams might be changing in the very near future so let the affiliation dance begin.
    For those that need help, here is a trade deadline cheat sheet for the Twins.
    It sounds like the Yankees have already asked about acquiring Denard Span but the Twins are asking for "a ton."
    A recent draft pick for the Red Sox was in the middle of a terrible stretch of play in the GCL. His final at-bat of the summer came on Friday against the GCL Twins and he ended the season 0-39 with 37 strikeouts.
    In a recently released documentary, Twins top prospect Miguel Sano is one of the 16-year old players followed before he signs with the Twins.
    Nick Blackburn is back with the Twins and it is still tough to know what to expect from him.
    Former Twins masher Jim Thome continued his climb up the all-time home run list by passing Sammy Sosa.
    Earlier in the season, Johan Santana had the first no-hitter in Mets history and he has struggled since that point.
    The Twins and the Royals wore throwback uniforms over the weekend to honor the Negro Leagues. After looking at this picture, it is hard to believe that Ben Revere didn't get hit.



    http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WOM2x1T13N0/UAyjQI6XvoI/AAAAAAAAC8Y/8D15N00FHHk/s320/Reverethrowback.jpg

     

    Six new members were elected to the Irish-American Baseball Hall of Fame and one of the new inductees is former Twins manager Tom Kelly.
    If there were an inner circle of the Hall of Fame, who would make the cut?
    The Post Office released their much anticipated new stamps featuring four baseball legends. No former Twins made the cut.
    Small ads will start to appear on the jersey's of NBA players next season so does that mean that baseball will be the next sport to join this revenue stream?
    It's funny to watch Prince Fielder try to slide and it isn't just because he is a large man.
    With the trade deadline approaching, it is time to figure out what Terry Ryan should do.
    Francisco Liriano might be the Twins best trade chip when it comes to restocking their pitching inventory.
    Bert Blyleven offered up an amazing quote in response to all of the things Reggie Jackson said about Blyleven and others not being worthy of the HOF.
    Earlier in the week, Joe Mauer made a tremendous diving catch in foul territory.

    My Weekly Rundown:

    Monday: Hicks following the path laid by Hunter, Span
    Tuesday: Tuesday Morning Tidbits
    Tuesday's Trip through the Minors
    Wednesday: Calcaterra wins 2012 Joe Posnanski Award

    Video of the Week: Oswaldo Arcia might be putting together a season that will place him very close to the top of the Twins prospect list. He started the year at Fort Myers and quickly outgrew his spot in High-A ball. Now he is playing well for the New Britain Rock Cats and he made the team a winner with this walk-off home run.
  7. Cody Christie
    After an offensive explosion on Monday night, the Twins made things a little bit more interesting on Tuesday when they didn't take their first lead in the game until the seventh inning. This comeback was spurred on by four two out hits with Ben Revere and Joe Mauer knocking in the runs to make the difference in the 6-4 final score.
    It seemed like a showcase game for Joe Mauer as he went 3-for-4 in the game including an RBI and one walk. He also made a tremendous diving catch on a bunt attempt where he had to sprawl out in foul territory to snag the pop up. Mauer is making an attempt to catch Mike Trout for the league lead in batting average but Trout continues to have monster games as he went 4-for-6 on Tuesday. There is plenty of time left for Mauer to catch Trout so it will be interesting to see if the 20-year old rookie ever cools down.
     
    Mauer wasn't the only member of the Twins organization to impress on Tuesday night because there were plenty of good games in the farm system. Make sure to check out all the details below in this edition of "Tuesday's Trip through the Minors."
     
    ROCHESTER 6, NORFOLK 2
     
    After a loss on Monday, the Red Wings got back to their recent winning ways by topping the Norfolk Tide on Tuesday night. During the month of July, the Red Wings have the most wins in the International League with 11 wins to their credit. Rochester is one victory away from the .500 mark and it would be the first time the team has seen that point since the end of April. The 2010 and 2011 seasons were a little rough for Rochester but the victory tonight has the Red Wings off to their best 97-game start since 2007.
    Jeff Manship pitched strong for the Red Wings by spreading out eight hits over six innings with both runs being charged to him. It was his first start since returning from the DL and he got his first victory since May 21 to improve to 5-1 on the season. Luis Perdomo got the untraditional three inning save, his sixth save for the year, by tossing three scoreless frames and striking out two. The one man to get to the Red Wings pitching staff was former Twins player Lew Ford who went 3-for-4 with a home run to raise his average to .340 with 10 long balls.
     
    Rene Rivera didn't start the game for the Red Wings but an early exit by JR Towles meant that Rivera would get some at-bats in the game. He went 2-for-3 with sixth home run of the year. Clete Thomas and Evan Bigley matched the two hits from Rivera with each hitter managing an extra-base hit in the game. Sean Burroughs lead the team with two runs batted in and he's up to 18 RBI for the season. The Red Wings have scored four or more runs in a season high six straight games and it's the first time they have done this since July of 2010 when they put together a seven game streak.
    NEW BRITAIN 5, NEW HAMPSHIRE 6
     
    The Rock Cats took an early 2-1 lead in the first inning and proceeded to fall behind for the next few innings. A big rally in the 8th inning brought the team back into the game with Aaron Hicks scoring the game tying run on a wild pitch with two outs in the frame. The lead wouldn't last long as the Fisher Cats posted back-to-back hits in the top of the ninth to reclaim the lead. In the bottom of the ninth, the Rock Cats would do their best to tie the game with two men reaching base in the inning. Unfortunately, the tying run was left in scoring position when Estarlin De Los Santos popped out to shortstop.
    Joe Benson was the only member of the Rock Cats to have more than one hit in the game. The lone extra-base hit came off of the bat of Chris Colabello, his team leading 27th double of the season. In the last ten games, Colabello is hitting .389/.421/.500 with five extra-base hits and seven RBI. Aaron Thompson tossed eight innings for the Rock Cats and gave up five runs on 10 hits including two home runs. By giving up the run in the top of the ninth, Edgar Ibarra was tagged with his first loss since being promoted from Fort Myers at the end of June.
     
    FORT MYERS 2, DUNEDIN 1 (GAME 1, 7 innings)
     
    The Miracle scored two runs in the first inning of this game and that is all they would need to hold on for their 39th victory of the season. Cole Nelson started the game for the Miracle and didn't give up a single earned run during his time on the mound. Over the course of five innings, he surrendered four hits while striking out four and lowering his ERA to 4.03 on the season. It was his fifth victory of the season and his second win in the month of July. AJ Achter earned his third save of the year by throwing two scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
     
    Levi Michael and Rene Tosoni were the lone Miracle hitters with an extra-base hit as each man had a double to his name for the game. Daniel Santana and Josmil Pinto each had two hits with Pinto knocking in one of the two runs in the game for the Miracle. Pinto has 34 RBI on the season and this ranks third for Fort Myers behind Lance Ray and the aforementioned Daniel Santana. It was the second victory in a row for the Miracle and they would try and complete the sweep of Dunedin in the second game of the double header.
    FORT MYERS 0, DUNEDIN 6 (GAME 2, 7 innings)
     
    After winning the first half of the double header, the Miracle struggled to get runners across the plate in the night cap. Fort Myers piled up nine hits over the course of the game but the team went 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position. Levi Michael and Daniel Santana had two hits apiece to lead the club. For the most part, Casey Lawrence, the starter for Dunedin, shut down the rest of the line-up for the Miracle as he tossed six scoreless innings for his sixth victory of the year. Koby Clemens, the son of Roger Clemens, hit a home run in the second inning to give the Blue Jays an early lead in the second inning.
     
    Madison Boer was roughed up for six earned runs off of eight hits in only 2.2 innings on the mound. With the rough outing, Boer saw his ERA rise to 7.47 over the course of his 13 starts with the Miracle. Miguel Munoz and Nelvin Fuentes cleaned up the rest of the game for the Miracle by throwing over four innings of shutout baseball but the hole was already dug for Fort Myers. Even with the rough loss, the Miracle can go for the series victory tomorrow in the finale of the four-game set.
     
    BELOIT (OFF DAY)
     
    After three straight losses, the Snappers enjoyed a much needed off day on Tuesday. The team will start a six game home stand on Wednesday as they try to sneak closer to the .500 mark in the second half standings. The Snappers have already clinched a playoff spot with their record in the first half but it would still be nice to see the team continue to succeed in the second half. Miguel Sano hit his 19th home run of the year on Monday and it was only his second home run of the month. In the last ten games, he is hitting .300 with eight RBI and four extra-base hits.
     
    ELIZABETHTON 7, JOHNSON CITY 4
     
    One big inning at the plate was all that it took for the E-Twins to take command of their game against the Johnson City Cardinals. The first three batters of the inning got singles to load the bases before the first out was recorded on a force out at home. Kelvin Mention strode to the plate with the bases loaded and he connected for his first professional home run and it just happened to be a grand slam. A couple of batters later Max Kepler would hit a two-run home run, his second of the year, to cap off a seven run inning. Five members of the E-Twins had multiple hits as the team compiled 12 hits in the game.
     
    Hein Robb started the game for the E-Twins and threw 3.1 innings with Johnson City getting seven hits off of him and three earned runs. Kaleb Merck earned his first professional win by throwing 2.2 innings and giving up one earned run on a single hit with three strikeouts. DJ Baxendale and Christian Powell combined for three scoreless innings to close out the victory for the E-Twins. For Powell, it was his first save on the season and four of the six outs he recorded were on strikeouts.
     
    GCL TWINS -, GCL ORIOLES -
     
    Today's double header between the GCL Twins and GCL Orioles was postponed because of the wet weather in Florida. The GCL Twins are in first place in their division and sit two games ahead of the GCL Red Sox. The team has won their last five games and nine of their last 11 contests. First round pick Byron Buxton hasn't played in a game since July 9 when he suffered a hamstring injury. Hopefully he will be able to get back into action whenever the weather decides to cooperate in Florida.
     
    ---
    Players of the Day for Tuesday, July 17, 2012
     

    Pitcher of the Day- Cole Nelson (5 IP, 0 ER)
     
    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rJRI6Sz7M6c/UAYjipgMbeI/AAAAAAAAC3k/DvEjOGUFSMs/s320/Miracle.jpg



    Hitter of the Day- Kelvin Mention (1st Professional HR, 4 RBI)
     
    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G7LUwl8jyZs/UAYZjAJ4TwI/AAAAAAAAC10/P_MYPzyRv1E/s200/ph_592551.jpg


    ---
     
    A Look Ahead- Wednesday, July 18th Schedule
     
    Rochester @ Norfolk: LHP Liam Hendriks
    New Britain vs. New Hampshire: RHP Shairon Martis
    Fort Myers vs. Dunedin: LHP Pat Dean
    Beloit vs. Lansing: LHP Jason Wheeler
    Elizabethton vs. Johnson City: TBD
    GCL Twins vs. GCL Rays: TBD
     
    ---
     
    If you have any question or comments on the Twins minor league system, leave them in the comments section and I will try to answer them.
  8. Cody Christie
    After having their starting pitchers struggle for most of the series against the Oakland A's, the Twins made sure their pitchers didn't have to worry about giving up runs on Monday night. The Twins offense exploded for 19 runs against the Baltimore Orioles including seven runs in the first inning. This was more than enough for a rested Scott Diamond who hadn't pitched in over a week and a half. In all of this offensive explosion, it is interesting to note that the Twins only had one home run in the game and it came on a solo home run from Joe Mauer.
     
    The Twins will hope their red hot hitting carries over to the second game of the series versus the Orioles. Zach Britton will be making his first start of the year for Baltimore and the Twins will have to try and figure out a pitcher that hasn't thrown in the big leagues since September of 2011. This could be a good thing or a bad thing for the Twins hitters so fans will just have to wait and see what tonight's contest brings.
     
    Last week I promised readers a minor league report on Tuesday night before realizing that there was only one game for Twins affiliates that day. It was a pretty momentous occasion with Kyle Gibson taking the mound for the first time since Tommy John surgery so a full story was written about that over at Twins Daily. Tonight there is a full slate of games in the Twins farm system so make sure to check back later for what happened down on the farm.
     



    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JPxNkQj9wwI/UATK7KVd6GI/AAAAAAAAC0E/BHR2o7_WMZQ/s320/willinghammer.jpg


    Willingham staying put... maybe


    The trade rumors are going to continue to swirl in the next couple weeks and it seems that very few members of the Twins will be safe from the rumor mill.
    According to one American League executive, Josh Willingham might be the most valuable trade chip on the Twins roster but it sounds like the Twins are planning on keeping him around from the sound of things. Willingham joined the Twins as a free agent this offseason and signed a three-year deal for $21 million, which is a very good deal for the production that he has offered the team. As a 33-year old outfielder with limited mobility on the defensive side of the ball, Willingham might be at the peak of his value in the midst of his best offensive season. The fact that he is under contract for the next couple seasons for a very decent amount of money could mean that some teams would over pay to add him to their roster for a playoff push. The Twins seem to think that it would be best to keep Willingham around unless they are blown away by an offer from another club.
    Over the course of his career, Willingham has never played more than 144 games in a season and he is on pace to play well over that amount of games in 2012. The Twins might be getting all that they can out of Willingham this year and the front office is going to have to decide when the team will be in contention again. Are the Twins going to be pushing for the playoffs in the next three years when Willingham is under contract? Or would it be better for the team to turn him into some prospects that could help the team in the future?


    Target Field starting to be more home run friendly



    In the third year of Target Field, it seems that batters have started to figure out what needs to be done in order to conquer the vast outfield walls. So far this season, Target Field has yielded 2.11 home runs per game which ranks right in the middle of the American League. The poor starting pitching for the Twins might be to blame for some of the recent rise in home runs but even the Twins have started to hit more bombs in their home ballpark. This is a change that could keep some players from complaining about what seemed like deep outfield fences in the first couple years that Target Field was open.
     
    When Target Field first opened in 2010, there were only 1.43 home runs per game hit and that number ranked second worst in the entire American League. The 2011 season saw a slight rise in the number of home runs with their being 1.56 home runs per game, the third fewest in the AL. Check out Hit Tracker Online for information on every home run that has been hit at Target Field throughout the three year history of the ballpark. Those numbers could rise this week with the king of home runs at Target Field, Jim Thome, returning as a member of the Baltimore Orioles.


    Arcia cracks walk-off home run
    The Rock Cats had an exciting finish to their first game of a double-header on Monday night. In a back and forth contest with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the game was tied in the ninth inning even though the Rock Cats had gotten out hit in the contest. The rally for the Rock Cats started with two outs in the ninth inning when Aaron Hicks hit a line drive to center field. Hicks would proceed to steal second base so the Fisher Cats pitched carefully to Chris Herrmann with first base open. After a walk to Herrmann, Oswaldo Arcia stepped to the plate with the chance to be the hero.
    Arcia worked the count in his favor by taking the first two pitches for balls before swinging at a slow breaking pitch in the dirt. The next pitch was outside again so the count moved to 3-1 and the pitcher had to put one near the plate. Arcia deposited the high fastball into the over the right field fence for a walk-off home run. It was his second home run since being called up to New Britain in June and it is his 10th home run overall on the season. At this point, Twins fans can start getting excited about what Arcia is doing in the minor leagues and he is making a push towards Target Field.



  9. Cody Christie
    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hEnUEQv6SHU/UAOQotUCM9I/AAAAAAAACyU/nBWJzKxqgXU/s320/SwingSun.jpeg

    Since the Twins took Aaron Hicks with their first round pick in the 2008 MLB Draft, there has been plenty of talk about the athletic outfielder fitting into the future plans of the Twins organization. Hicks was one of the highest draft picks the Twins had prior to drafting Byron Buxton in this year's draft and he seemed to have all of the tools to make him a very valuable player. It hasn't been a fast rise to the top for Mr. Hicks during his five years in the farm system for the Twins but he looks like he might slowly be figuring things out at the Double-A level with the New Britain Rock Cats.
    There has been an up and down trend to the career of Hicks with there being more downs than ups. He can go through extreme hot stretches were he looks like a power threat from both sides of the plate and he follows that up with a rough couple of months that brings his statistics back down to earth. This roller coaster ride has been something that the Twins have tried to solve in recent years as they try and push the outfielder to find more consistency in his approach at the plate. The trend of ups and downs has continued in 2012 with some poor months mixed in with some very good offensive months.
    The month of July has been one of those very good months for Hicks. In his 14 games played in July, he is hitting .358/.452/.566 with five extra-base hits including two home runs and four RBI. This is also following the month of June where he hit .288/.377/.424 and all of those numbers were higher than his career averages. So it seems that the last couple of months have slowly been improving for Hicks as he starts to get more experience at the Double-A level. For the most part, his 2012 campaign would be excellent if not very a rough month of May at the plate.
    It could be a season of new personal records for Hicks on the offensive side of the ball. He has a career high nine home runs and he is closing in on some other personal bests. He is one triple away from tying his career high of six triples in a season and he has 19 stolen bases which is two short of his own record. There is over a third of the season left so this should give Hicks plenty of time to set some offensive highs for himself in the coming months.
    One of the biggest problems for the switch-hitting Hicks has been the change in his splits versus right-handed or left-handed pitchers. He is traditionally much better from the right side of the plate versus left-handed pitching. While this trend has continued in 2012, the gap is closing between his splits and he has shown the ability to hit for power from both sides of the plate. As a right handed hitter in 88 at-bats, he is hitting .295/.370/.466 with four home runs and three doubles. He has more than double the at-bats from the left side, 203 plate appearances, and he is hitting .266/.365/.424 with five home runs and five triples. It is great to see his numbers improve from both sides of the plate but it is also very good to see him become a more well-rounded hitter in the box.
    In the past, the Twins have seen some other high school outfielders take their time while developing in the system for the Twins. Denard Span didn't debut until he was 24 and his first full season in the big leagues didn't come until the next season as a 25-year old. Torii Hunter made his debut as a 21-year old but he only go into one game and he was used as a pinch runner. His first full season would come a couple seasons later when he was 23-years old. He hadn't been blowing the cover off of the ball in the minor leagues but he became an All-Star caliber player for the Twins. It is also important to remember that the Twins teams of the late 1990's were not very good so it allowed for younger players to get more playing time. Could this situation play out with Hicks in the next couple years?
     
    With Hicks playing all of this season so far at Double-A, there are plenty that are wondering when the young star will be making his debut with the Twins. The 22-year old might be a long shot to debut in 2012 because there are a few things working against him at this point. He is not on the 40-man roster and that means another move would need to be made to clear a spot for him even though that wouldn't be too difficult. There are a couple other young outfielders, Oswaldo Arcia and Joe Benson, that are already ahead of him because they have 40-man roster spots. Arcia is having a tremendous season but he spent the first part of the year at the High-A level so it might be pushing it to say he will get a chance this year. During last September, Benson got a taste of the big leagues but he has struggled in 2012. It will be a toss up to see if any of these players get the call this year.
    It seems the Twins front office would be satisfied with Hick showing that he can be a consistent offensive threat from both sides of the plate. His speed and defense have always been his best attributes and it seems that his hitting is slowly coming along. Twins fans can hope that he will follow some of the other high school outfielders that took some time to develop in the minor leagues before becoming solid regulars with the club. For now, Hicks will continue to refine his approach at the Double-A level in hopes that he can call himself a major league player at some point in the next two years.
  10. Cody Christie
    Happy Friday! I hope you made it through the week and you are looking forward to the weekend. It's hard to believe that it is already the 13th of July. Where is the time going from this summer? Make sure you spend some time this weekend enjoying the warm weather and the wonderful outdoors. It won't be long and we will all be stuck inside for another frigid winter across Twins Territory. At least the Wild should be worth watching this season with their newest additions.
    The Twins resume play tonight for the first time since the All-Star Break. For the first week, the Twins play all of their games at Target Field so that should be beneficial to the club. This weekend the A's come to town to match-up with the Twins for three games and that is followed by a four-game set with the Baltimore Orioles. As I wrote about yesterday, there are still some headlines to follow in the second half that should make the Twins fun to watch.
     
    Before the Twins resume play and before you head out for the weekend, make sure to check out the links I have provided below. There were some great interviews and Twins stories this week so make sure to enjoy this edition of "Friday Links-N-Thinks."

    For those with hope, what would it take for the Twins to come back in the second half?
    Terry Ryan did a very good interview with FanGraphs about his experiences as GM of the Twins.
    It's getting close to the time when the Twins might need to be concerned about the payroll situation for 2013.
    Many Twins fans might not have known that Glen Perkins is a stat-head.
    One of the best pieces of news for Twins fans this week was that Kyle Gibson pitched in his first game since undergoing Tommy John surgery.
    Twins minor league pitcher BJ Hermsen made the Double-A All-Star Game but he still has plenty to prove.
    There are plenty of trade candidates for the Twins including the Orioles, the Nationals, and the Pirates.
    Watching the lightning strike during the Twins game on Sunday was scary and funny at the same time.
    A decade ago the All-Star Game ended in a tie but it still featured one of the best Twins All-Star moments with Torii Hunter robbing Barry Bonds of a home run.
    Here are the top five performances from Twins in the All-Star Game.
    Last year's first round pick Levi Michael is now on Twitter.
    This is a great picture of former Twins player Michael Cuddyer.



    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g3esZFWdRJk/UAAc_pKc9sI/AAAAAAAACvw/MN60ra1elHs/s320/pow20(cuddyer).jpg

     

    Cuddyer has also meant a lot to his new teammates in Colorado.
    After making some controversial comments about Kirby Puckett and Bert Blyleven, Reggie Jackson apologized earlier this week.
    A $3 million collection of baseball cards was found in an attic in Ohio. Guess it's time for me to sort through my old baseball cards.
    Slow down a minute. The A's are a .500 baseball team at the break. How did that happen?
    This new rule for baseball would really confuse the casual fans that attend games.
    Did you know that Buffalo, NY was close to getting an MLB franchise in the late 80's and early 90's?
    I hate being at Target Field and not getting to see close plays shown on the big screen. Apparently the Red Sox got in trouble for doing this in a game versus the Yankees.
    Are the Twins going to rename their spring training stadium? They would like to and there are some other plans in the works.
    The Saint Paul Saints are having a night specifically for atheists and the team will be called the Saint Paul Aints for the night.
    The Twins grounds crew has been working hard to get the field back in shape after the first concert in the history of the venue.
    A report came out that Danny Valencia is not happy in Triple-A but he needs to hit better if he wants to make it back to the big leagues.

    My Weekly Rundown

    Monday: Handing out Twins Mid-Season Awards
    Tuesday: Tuesday Morning Tidbits
    Thursday: Twins second-half headlines to watch

    Video of the Week: Season ticket holders for the Twins were asked to send in questions for Twins GM Terry Ryan. It was cool to listen to some of his answers and he even answered a question that I sent in. My question has about the lack of pitching depth in the entire organization but they took out some of the words that I used but it was still a cool concept.
  11. Cody Christie
    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gDD7ASQjXpA/T_7LaKz1SbI/AAAAAAAACuA/Oqs2L1Y7oag/s320/MauerLiriano.jpg


    The Twins still have one more day before they kick off the second half of the 2012 season so this gives the players and their fans another day to enjoy a break from the world of baseball. Now with the addition of the extra Wild Card team in each league, it seems that plenty of teams find themselves in reach of a playoff spot at the All-Star Break. In the American League, every team except the Twins, Royals, and Mariners are within 2.5 games of a playoff spot. The races in the National League are tight as well with three teams in each division being within 4.5 games of each other.
     
    With more than half of the team's games having been played, the Twins sit 11 games out of first place and they are under .500 by 13 games. So what is in store for the second half of the season with the Twins? There has to be something to keep fans entertained during the rest of the summer and the beginning of fall. Some might say that the Twins pitching staff could put it all together and help the rest of the team to come back from one of the biggest deficits in franchise history. While at the same time, others might look at this season as a lost cause and turn their sights to the future of the franchise.
     
    Below there are a few different headlines for fans to watch out for in the second half. Even with the team being out of contention at this point, there are plenty of stories to follow. Here are just a few of those headlines.

    Sell, Sell, Sell


    At the trade deadline last season, the Twins were close enough to the race that they kept all of their parts and didn't add any additional help. The team stood pat even though they had pending free agents like Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel, Joe Nathan, and Matt Capps. There was still the lure of gaining draft picks for these players if they signed with other teams via free agency. With three of the above names leaving for greener pastures, the Twins ended up with five picks in the first two rounds of the June draft.
     
    Flash-forward to 2012 and the Twins will have some tougher decisions on hand when it comes to the trade deadline. A new collective bargaining agreement signed in the offseason means that the rules have changed for compensation when free agents leave a team. Like in years past, the Twins would have to offer free agents arbitration to have any shot at getting a draft pick. In order to receive draft pick compensation, the salary the team would have to offer their former player who became a free agent is the average of the top 125 contracts in the baseball. This sits at over $12 million for next offseason.
     
    This means that the Twins could be looking to sell players before the July trade deadline comes and goes. Francisco Liriano, Denard Span, and Matt Capps lead the list of possible trade candidates. But on a team struggling to reach .500, there should be no players that are untouchable. My guess is that Liriano gets dealt and the other big buzz will be around Span but he will stay with the team because they won't be overwhelmed by any of the offers for him. There should be plenty of reasons to sell, sell, sell.

    Mauer hunts for 4th batting title
    Joe Mauer has won three batting titles so far in his career and he is in the race for a fourth title at the All-Star break this season. He currently sits in fourth place behind Mike Trout (.341), Austin Jackson (.332), and Paul Konerko (.329). All of the players in front of Mauer have never finished in the top five in batting before with Konerko having the highest finish at eighth place in 2010. Trout is in the middle of a tremendous rookie season so it will be interesting to see if he can keep this up. In his other two seasons with the Tigers, Jackson has never finished with an above .300 average. This could give Mauer the chance for a second half comeback in the batting race.
     
    Behind Mauer in the standings are two very good veteran hitters, Adrian Beltre (.326) and Miguel Cabrera (.324). Each of these players will play a critical role on a team looking to make the playoffs in the second half so they will have a lot of pressure situations to face in the coming months. With the Twins essentially being out of the race, Mauer can relax and continue to hit the ball at an amazing clip. In the other seasons that Mauer was able to come out on top for a batting title, he was in the midst of a pennant race with the Twins. Combine all of this information and it should make for a very exciting finish for the AL Batting Crown.
     


    Gibson makes his way through the minors

    One man that was projected to make an impact on the starting rotation as early as last year has just starting pitching in the 2012 season. Kyle Gibson has spent most of the last year recovering from Tommy John surgery and he is inching closer to making a full recovery. He threw his first inning on the mound earlier this week and it was a fairly successful outing. He didn't give up a hit and the only man to get on base was erased by a double play ball. Reports from the Twins front office had Gibson hitting as high as 94 with his fastball and that was probably the only pitch he was using in this start.
     
    During the rest of the season, Gibson will continue to get stretched out as he makes his way through the minor league system for the Twins. In my post on Tuesday, I mentioned the fact that the Twins aren't looking for him to debut at the big league level in 2012 and they would just like to see a healthy player make it through the end of the season. It also sounds like there is a chance that he could pitch in the Arizona Fall League but that decision is still a couple months away. For now, fans can check the box scores of the minor leagues to see if one of the team's top pitching prospects is getting any closer to Target Field.

    Plouffe and Diamond: Progression or Regression?
    There have been two players to burst onto the scene for the Twins this season after not finding a lot of success at the big league level. Trevor Plouffe and Scott Diamond were two of the most important players to any kind of success the Twins had in the first half of the year. In the last couple of months, Plouffe has been one of the best power hitters in the American League and it has been amazing to see the small adjustments that he made at the plate to impact his swing in a big way. Diamond has turned into the ace of the staff for the Twins after not even being in the rotation at the start of the season.



    With plenty of success in the first half of the year, it will be interesting to see what kind of production the Twins can get out of their two rising stars. Will they each continue to progress or will there be some second-half regression? It's hard to imagine Plouffe not having a little regression because he was hitting at a Barry Bonds like level for a few weeks. Even with a low K/9 rate for Diamond, the hope is that he can continue to be consistent and put the Twins in position to win games in the second half. Each of these men have played their way into the long term plans for the Twins and fans should be excited to see what they can do for the rest of the year.



  12. Cody Christie
    Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Prince Fielder put on quite the show in the Home Run Derby last night after a slow start in the first round. His violent swing helped him to win his second career Derby title by beating out Jose Bautista in the final round. Over the years, the Derby has turned into quite the spectacle as it last for three hours or more. ESPN provides a ton of camera angles so fans can see some of the best power hitters in the game take their hacks at the fences.
     
    The All-Star Game will take place on Tuesday evening and Joe Mauer, the lone Twins representative, will get to play a few innings behind the plate. Last season, Twins fans only got a brief glimpse of Michael Cuddyer when he played in Arizona. During his only at-bat, he swung at the first pitch and popped out. Depending on how Ron Washington, the AL Manager, uses Mauer, he could get more than one plate appearance.
     
    Even with the All-Star Break for the major league version of the Twins, there is still action across the minor leagues. Make sure to check back later tonight for a recap of all of the games in the Twins minor league system. For now, check out a few headlines in this week's edition of "Tuesday Morning Tidbits."



    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yhJ2-yVKxGI/T_un5knw_2I/AAAAAAAACsQ/TRoxknJumtU/s320/MorneauHRtrot.jpg





    Gibson unlikely to debut in September



    In a recent video interview with questions from season ticket holders, Terry Ryan talked about the plan for Kyle Gibson as he returns from Tommy John surgery. He is scheduled to pitch one inning today for the GCL Twins but don't expect him to be knocking on the door to the big leagues by the end of the season. Ryan said that it might be "a little aggressive" to think that Gibson could earn a September call-up. So it sounds like the Twins will take a slow and steady approach with one of the most valuable arms in their farm system.  
    It seems that the Twins are hoping that he has a healthy August and September so he can end the season on a positive note. Ryan went on to say that there is the possibility that Gibson could end up pitching in the Arizona Fall League. This would allow Gibson to rack up some innings against some of the best prospects in the game. The AFL is usually considered a hitter's league so it will be interesting to see if Gibson is actually selected to be one of the Twins pitchers sent to Arizona.
     
    There are plenty of things that Gibson will have to be accustomed to during his appearances in the minor leagues. When a pitcher is coming off of Tommy John surgery, it can be a little intimidating to start throwing breaking pitches. It will be important for Gibson to work on all of his pitches to prove to the Twins that he is a viable candidate to fit into the rotation for 2013. He might not make it to Target Field in 2012 but the Twins need plenty of support in the rotation for the future.
     



    Morneau enters break with ten game hit streak



    In a first half of the season that had to be frustrating for Justin Morneau, he enters the break in the midst of a ten game hitting streak. Over the course of those ten contests, Morneau is hitting .333/.364/.452 with a home runs and a couple of doubles. This is a very welcome sign for a player that has missed large chunks of the last two seasons. The Twins line-up looks a lot more potent with a hot hitting Morneau in the middle of the order.
     
    For most of the 2012 season, there have been two vastly different versions of Morneau for the Twins. It can be expected for a hitter to have splits versus right-handed and left-handed pitchers but Morneau has been very good versus righties and awful against lefties. So far this season versus right handed pitchers, Morneau is hitting .313/.389/.571 with nine home runs, 13 doubles, and 29 RBI. Southpaws have been the opposite story for Morneau as he is hitting .124/.160/.202 with two home runs, a double, and nine RBI. It was getting to the point where many were questioning whether Morneau should be moved down in the line-up versus left-handed starters.
     
    One good signs was the fact that Morneau was able to get a couple hits off of lefties from the Rangers before the end of the first half. There is still a long way to go in order for Morneau's numbers to look respectable versus lefties so hopefully he has turned the corner. This could make for an exciting second half for Mr. Morneau with the Twins hoping that he returns back to his MVP form.
     



    Buxton pulls hamstring after steal



    Byron Buxton, the number two overall pick, was pulled from a GCL game on Monday afternoon with an apparent hamstring pull. After walking and stealing second base in the third inning, Buxton did something to his leg. Since the Twins have a lot of money invested in this young man, it made sense to get him out of the game to check him out. At this point, it is not known how much time Buxton will need to miss but he will most likely be considered day-to-day so he can rest his leg.
     


    It's sad to see an injury to Buxton since he seemed to finally have found his swing with the GCL Twins. After only managing a single hit in his first eight games, Buxton had been on a little bit of a hot streak in recent games. He hit his first professional home run on Saturday and he had a batting average of .333 over the course of the last six games. There is still a long time until fans will worry about seeing Buxton at Target Field but it would be nice for him to get as many at-bats as possible during this season.
  13. Cody Christie
    Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    With the All-Star Break at hand, it marks the unofficial midpoint of the 2012 season for the Minnesota Twins. Coming off of one of the worst seasons in franchise history, it was hard to have optimism for the 2012 campaign. There were question marks surrounding players that missed large chunks of last season due to injury, the bullpen had some unproven arms, and the starting rotation needed to prove itself. All of these story lines have played out in different ways with some of them being much more positive than the others.
     
    The Twins have played a little stronger in recent games to give a semblance of hope to fans across Twins Territory. The scary part might be the fact that by the All-Star Game last year the club had put together 41 wins and sat 6.5 games out of first place in the Central. While the team was still seven games under .500, there was a chance for a strong second half run. Entering the break this season, the Twins are further back in the division and more games under .500 than last year. Overall, it looks like a tough hole to dig out of in the second half.
     
    At the beginning of the season, I predicted who I thought would win various awards for the 2012 version of the Twins. The All-Star Break allows for time to reflect back on the first half of the season and to see how close to being right (or being very wrong) that those predictions were.
     
    Each of the awards below has been named after someone that optimizes that award for the Twins organization. There are some legends from the past and even one current MLB player but all have had a significant place in Twins lore.
     

    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3Nw5_5My7xw/T_rgXstjLRI/AAAAAAAACqg/XWMisSEYtV4/s320/ScottyD.jpgHarmon Killebrew MVP: Josh Willingham, LF-DH
     
    Preseason pick: Joe Mauer, C-1B-DH


    At this point in the season, it looks like a two man race for the top player on the Twins in 2012. Josh Willingham started off the season like an MVP and he carried the team through the early portion of their schedule. On the other hand, Joe Mauer has put together a very strong campaign after putting a dreadful 2011 season behind him. Either one of these players could be named MVP of the first half for the Twins so let's take a look at some of the numbers.
     
    To this part in the season, Willingham is batting .261/.376/.536 with 19 home runs and 60 RBI. His batting average is right around his career average but his OBP and SLG are both higher than his career marks. Joe Mauer is batting .326/.417/.452 with five home runs and 41 RBI. He sits in the top five for batting average in the entire American League and he has the highest OBP of any AL player. On FanGraphs and Baseball Reference, both players sit within .1 points of each other in WAR.
     
    It seems like the races is almost a tie so there must be some other way to figure out who should come out on top. The tie-breaker for me was looking at Win Probability Added and Willingham is the clear leader on the team. His clutch hits and RBI have helped to turn losses into victories on a team that needed him to provide a little spark. The race was tight but Willingham is the team's MVP through the first half of the year.
     

    Johan Santana Pitcher of the Year: Scott Diamond, LHP
     
    Preseason pick: Francisco Liriano, LHP


    This might be the easiest category to select through the first portion of the Twins schedule. Scott Diamond has emerged as the best pitcher on the staff for the Twins and his transformation has been fun to see so far this year.Since he started the season at Triple-A, he has only been able to log 79.0 innings with the big league squad. His seven wins are three more than any other starter this season and his ERA of 2.62 is very low.
     
    It is starting to look more and more like Francisco Liriano could win this award by the end of the season. His starts in recent weeks have been very good and his is able to strike out more batters than Diamond. Liriano's terrible start was tough to overcome at this point in the season so his numbers still look high at the All-Star Break. He does lead the team in games started and innings pitched but his ERA and WHIP need some time to recover from the early part of the season.
     
    With all of the trade rumors surrounding Liriano, it is hard to imagine him being with the club until the end of the season. That would seem to mean that this award is Diamond's to lose for the rest of the season. Diamond is the lone bright spot in a rotation full of holes and he looks like he might have to be the ace of the staff for the next handful of seasons.
     

    Rick Aguilera Relief Pitcher of the Year: Jared Burton, RHP
     
    Preseason pick: Brian Duensing, LHP


    When the season started, I picked Duensing for this award because he was shifting back to a successful role that he held with the club in the past. This was assuming that he would stay in the bullpen for the majority of the season but now he finds himself in the starting rotation. This leaves a couple of arms in the bullpen that have shown themselves to be very valuable in the first half of the year.
     
    Glen Perkins burst onto the scene last season as one of the most valuable set-up men in the American League. His transition from starter to relief pitcher allowed him to add some velocity to his pitches and he looked like a brand new man. It has been more of the same for Perkins in 2012 and he has even been given the opportunity to close some games with Matt Capps on the DL. His ERA and WHIP are a little higher than one would like for an arm out of the 'pen but his strikeouts per nine innings has increase over last year.
     
    Much like the race for team MVP, the competition for Relief Pitcher of the Year is a two-man race. Jared Burton has rediscovered himself as a 31-year old after two injury shortened seasons with the Reds. He has looked dominant at times with a WHIP under 1.000 and a 2.55 ERA for the year. His strikeout total will never match Perkins but Burton has been an unsung hero of the first half for the Twins.
     

    Rod Carew Rookie of the Year: Scott Diamond, LHP
     
    Preseason pick: Chris Parmelee, 1B-RF-DH


    Coming out of spring training, it looked like there would be a couple of different rookies in line for the Carew ROY Award. Chris Parmelee had made the squad after a strong spring training and a very good month of September at the end of last season. The Twins were unsure of what to expect from Justin Morneau and it made sense to have another strong first baseman on the roster. Liam Hendriks was another rookie that made the squad when the team headed north for the start of the year. Some injuries to the starting staff allowed Hendriks the opportunity to start the year in the rotation.
     
    The story line for each of these players has been a little frustrating to watch in 2012. Both players have found a lot of success at the Triple-A level but the results have been mixed with the big league squad. Parmelee has been sent back-and-forth to Rochester on multiple occasions and his last trip had to be tough for him. He sat on the bench for multiple weeks and he was given a handful of at-bats. Hendriks has really struggled at the big league level and it will be interesting to see if he gets another shot in the second half.
     
    For the reasons mentioned in the Santana Pitcher of the Year category, Diamond is the clear-cut winner of this award. Brain Dozier has gotten plenty of playing time at shortstop but there are still multiple things that he needs to work on. Diamond, Dozier, Hendriks, and Parmelee are all in line to have a big impact on this team in the future so it will be interesting to see what they can do.
     
    So who do you think should win each award? Leave a comment and start the discussion.
  14. Cody Christie
    The Fourth of July holiday means that the All-Star Break is quickly approaching and the Twins are near a break that might be good for a team that is struggling to find pitchers for their starting staff. There has been a well-worn road from Rochester to Minneapolis as the Twins try to find players to record outs for the big league club. Casey Fien and Sam Deduno will be the latest Red Wings to get called up to play with the Twins.
     
    After putting together five consecutive wins, the Twins lost back to back contests in Detroit. The loss on Thursday afternoon might have been the most disappointing as the Twins looked to be in control after a strong start from Scott Diamond. In the end, the big bats for Detroit prevailed against the Twins bullpen and now the team will head to Texas to end the first half against one of the toughest teams in the AL.
     
    The Rangers are the two-time defending AL Champions and they will trot out eight All-Stars. At the same time, the Twins have one current All-Star and 14 more losses than the Rangers. It could be a rough weekend in Arlington but it will be fun to see what Josh Willingham and Trevor Plouffe can do in the heat of Texas.
     
     

    Could it be time for the Twins to think about a contract extension with Francisco Liriano?
    Some possible trade targets for the Twins include the Reds, the Yankees, the Braves, and the Dodgers.
    Denard Span could be one of the players traveling to a new team by the end of the month.
    One of the most controversial articles of the week had Reggie Jackson state that he thinks former Twins Kirby Puckett and Bert Blyleven don't belong with him in the Hall of Fame.
    The end of June meant it was time to name the minor league hitter of the month, the starting pitcher of the month, and the relief pitcher of the month for the Twins.
    Trevor Plouffe has been something to enjoy in Minnesota.
    Detroit's defense is fun to watch.
    AJ Pierzynski spoke out about his poor reputation across the baseball world.
    This squibber by Brian Dozier was amazing to see and hard to explain to someone that wasn't able to witness it happen.


    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GNjDUCmQTiI/T_Y77q0m_9I/AAAAAAAACow/mGqgf6XxakI/s1600/Brian+Dozier+Squibber.gif

     

    With Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, and Matt Moore graduating to the big leagues, who is left as the top prospect in the minor leagues?
    There were two big hockey signings in Minnesota this week and Joe Mauer and Ron Gardenhire did their best to recruit Zach Parise and Ryan Suter.
    One of the biggest talking points of the 4th might have been explaining to friends and family about the Twins sending 30-year old Nick Blackburn to Triple-A.
    Ozzie Guillen blew up at reporters after Heath Bell blew another loss for the Marlins.
    A coach in the A's organization got banned from the bench after he ordered intentional balks to end an extra-inning affair.
    It's interesting to think of the Twins team as pairs of twins.
    The window for signing 16-year old international players opened earlier this week and the Twins scooped up the 12th best prospect according to Baseball America.
    There was some who questioned the Twins All-Star selection over the weekend but what about the All-Stars of the future.
    What should the Orioles expect from Jim Thome?

    My Weekly Rundown
     
     

    Monday: Mauer elected and "fans" revolt
    Tuesday: Tuesday Morning Tidbits
    Tuesday's Trip through the Minors

    Video of the Week: It is still an honor for any player to be selected to the All-Star Game even if it is Mauer's fifth trip to the Mid-Summer Classic. The Twins had a cool video that they threw together to see how the team announced that Mauer would be representing the Twins in Kansas City.
  15. Cody Christie
    A rain delay in Detroit held up the start of the Twins game for an hour and a half. When the game got underway, it turned into a back and forth contest between the Tigers and the Twins. The Twins bash brothers of Josh Willingham and Trevor Plouffe each added another home run to their totals for the season as they continue to try and match each other for the team lead. Even Joe Mauer was able to hit his second home run in the past week with an opposite field home run in the later innings of the game.
     
    Nick Blackburn left a few too many sinkers up in the zone and the Tigers offense was able to hit some balls out of the park. The bullpen for the Twins was able to keep some of the damage to a minimum by not allowing a run in their five innings of work.
     
    Have a safe and enjoyable 4th of July but make sure to check out what happened across the minor leagues on Tuesday night.
     
    ROCHESTER 5, PAWTUCKET 3
     
    In the midst of a tough stretch of baseball where the Red Wings had lost five of their last seven games, Rochester was able to put together a huge seventh inning to come out victorious. One of the most miraculous things might have been the fact that all of the runs were scored after two outs had already been recorded in the inning. Clete Thomas and Rene Rivera hit back-to-back home runs to start the scoring in the frame. The other big hit in the frame was a double by Pedro Florimon to plate two runs and put the team up by two.
     
    The bullpen for the Red Wings has been outstanding in recent weeks and they have pitched 12.1 scoreless innings in a row. A starting pitcher hasn't picked up a victory for the Red Wings since June 25 and that trend continued on Tuesday with Bobby Lanigan picking up his first victory of the season for Rochester. Casey Fien pitched two perfect innings for his third hold of the year and he struck out four of the six men that he faced.
    NEW BRITAIN 14, BOWIE 7
     
    The Rock Cats wasted little time jumping on the Baysox by starting a hit parade in the bottom of the first inning and exploding for ten runs. With this many runs on the board, there were plenty of offensive stars for New Britain. Estarlin De Los Santos was 2-for-5 with a double, a home run, and four RBI. Evan Bigley matched De Los Santos with four runs batted in and he also had a double. Chris Herrmann and Chris Colabello each piled up three hits over the course of the game. Danny Lehman was the only hitter to remain hitless in the game for New Britain.
     
    With all of the runs on the board, the pitching staff for New Britain didn't need to be perfect on this night. Blake Martin started the game but didn't make it through five innings before giving up six earned runs. Edgar Ibarra picked up his second win since being promoted from Fort Myers at the end of June. The last 3.1 innings were pitched by Daniel Sattler for his first save and he only surrendered one hit.
     
    FORT MYERS 11, ST. LUCIE 2
     
    There were fireworks scheduled for after the game but the Miracle made sure the fans saw some during the game as Fort Myers piled up 13 hits against St. Lucie. Lance Ray was 2-for3 in the contest with his ninth home run of the year and three RBI. Daniel Ortiz also knocked in three runs with his two doubles in the game. It was a very balanced attack for the Miracle as five of the nine batters had multiple hits and six batters had at least one run batted in.
     
    After being saddled with the loss in each of his last three starts, Cole Nelson picked up his first victory since June 12. He threw five innings and was charged with two earned runs but he did give up five walks. In three innings of work, Marty Popham was almost perfect by allowing a couple of hits and striking out three. It was the third straight scoreless outing thrown by Popham.
     
    The Miracle sit one game behind Bradenton for first place.
     
    BELOIT 1, CEDAR RAPIDS 10
    Unfortunately for the Snappers, they were on the wrong end of a blowout loss in this game. Beloit only managed four hits in the game and Adam Pettersen had half of those knocks. The only run of the game for Beloit was driven in by Adam Bryant with a single in the bottom of the fourth inning. After getting pulled from the game on Monday with three defensive errors, Miguel Sano was absent from the line-up on Tuesday night.
     
    For the second straight start, Tim Shibuya struggled and he was pulled after two innings and a couple of home runs allowed. Bart Carter allowed five earned runs in less than two innings on the mound but he did manage five strike outs. The only Snappers pitcher to survive without allowing a run was Clint Dempster and he struck out four of the six batters that he faced.
     
    ELIZABETHTON 7, PRINCETON 2
     
    The month of July has been off to a fantastic start for Romy Jimenez as he has hit two double in every game so far this month. For the season, he is batting .444 and his OPS is an eye popping 1.447 in 11 games. Adam Walker hit his second home run of the season and he had three RBI in the contest. Travis Harrison was also able to knock in two runs with his couple of hits for the E-Twins.
     
    It seems that the Twins are being careful with the amount of innings pitched by Taylor Rogers as he has thrown four innings in all of his starts this year. On this night, he allowed two runs on a couple of hits but the big lead allowed him to pitch comfortably. Tyler Herr picked up his second win of the season and he has not allowed a run in his last five trips to the mound.
     
    GCL TWINS 3, GCL RAYS 2
     
    After trailing for most of the game, the GCL Twins scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to come out on top. Aderlin Mejia and Logan Wade lead the Twins with two hits apiece and each player had an extra-base hit to their credit. Dereck Rodriguez doubled in a run as part of the rally for the Twins and he later scored the winning run when Bryan Haar singled. Byron Buxton might of had his worst game as a professional by striking out three times in four plate appearances.
     
    Adrain Salcedo made his second appearance as he tries to return from injury. He made his first start and gave up two hits and two unearned runs in his two innings of work. Chris Mazza got his first victory of the year and his first victory as a professional. He threw 2.1 innings and struck out three to lower his ERA to 1.17. Jose Berrios got his first save by throwing a scoreless ninth.
     
    ---
     
    Players of the Day for Tuesday, July 3, 2012
     

    Hitter of the Day- Estarlin De Los Santos
    http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gOdjyQdGZmY/T_O60AXicrI/AAAAAAAACm4/d9nQKewbNIY/s320/RockCats.jpg


     
    Pitcher(s) of the Day- Red Wings Bullpen (12.1 inning scoreless streak)

    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XkMsrXHz5BU/T_O64-1fpRI/AAAAAAAACnA/ronnKtp688Q/s320/4553.gif


     




    ---



     

    A Look Ahead- Wednesday, July 4th Schedule
     
    Rochester vs Pawtucket- LHP Luke French
    New Britain vs Trenton- LHP Logan Darnell
    Fort Myers at Charlotte- RHP Matthew Hauser
    Beloit at Clinton- LHP Steven Gruver
    Elizabethton vs Kingsport- RHP Hudson Boyd
    GCL Twins vs. GCL Orioles- TBA
    GCL Twins at GCL Orioles- TBA
     
    ---
     
    If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, leave them in the comments section and Seth or I will try to answer them.
  16. Cody Christie
    Glen Perkins came into the ninth inning in Detroit with a two-run lead to work with and he sure made things interesting by allowing Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder to reach on singles. In the end, Perkins was able to get out of the jam and the Twins were victorious for the fourth straight game. It was interesting to see the Twins put together six runs without managing an extra-base hit. This was especially intriguing after a weekend where the team went homer happy against the Royals pitching staff.
     
    After Liam Hendriks looked to be in line for his first win at the MLB level, he ran into trouble in the fifth inning with too many walks. The bullpen was left to finish off the final five innings and the pitchers put together shut out frame after shut out frame to preserve the win. Anthony Swarzak ended up with the victory but Alex Burnett was also very good during his time on the mound.
     
    Since it is Tuesday, make sure to check back later tonight as I will recap all of the action from across the minor league system for the Twins. For now, enjoy this week's edition of "Tuesday Morning Tidbits."
     



    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GzokFNoOgeo/T_JZ6yZFYaI/AAAAAAAAClI/3BnWdZIagMY/s320/ballplayer_pelotero.jpg


    Sano documentary under heat from MLB

    A documentary about the signing and development of players in the Dominican Republic is being released and MLB is not happy about the content covered in the film. The movie is called "Ballplayer: Pelotero" and it follows closely the lives of two players as they strive to make their way from the fields in the Dominican Republic to huge signing bonuses with MLB clubs. One of the young players followed in this film is Miguel Sano, the top prospect in the Twins organization.
     
    One of the most intriguing scenes in the movie is some hidden camera footage from the family of Miguel Sano when Rene Gayo, the Pittsburgh Pirates' director of Latin American scouting operations, tries to convince his family to admit that he lied about his age. Later in the film, the family attorney for the Sano's accuses MLB of trying to coax him into signing with the lowly Pirates. These were just some of the scenes that MLB was not happy about from the early screenings of the film.
     
    Overall, it seems like it would be a very interesting film for fans of baseball. There have been questions about the ages of players coming out of the Dominican Republic for years but it seems like baseball is trying to do a better job of cleaning up this mess. For fans of the Twins, it would be interesting to see behind the scenes of the player that might be the future of the franchise.
     
    VIEW THE TRAILER>>>
    [video=youtube_share;i9jfhRyoljA]
     

    Liriano's audition continues


    If the Twins want to get pass Liriano on to another team before the trade deadline, there seems to be more than one team that is interested in his services. During his last start on Sunday afternoon, there were scouts in attendance from the Atlanta Braves, Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees. It seems like the Braves might have the most interest since they have sent one of their top scouts to attend the last two starts by Mr. Liriano. This would make sense with some of the problems that the Braves have gone through with their starting pitching this season.
     
    Since Liriano returned to the rotation at the end of May, he has done much better by posting a 2.95 ERA in 42.2 innings pitched. This has only translated to one win but his strike out to walk ratio has improved greatly as he has struck out 46 batters and walked 18. In his six starts before being banished to the bullpen, Liriano walked 19 and struck out 21 in 26.2 innings. This fast turn around in performance might have helped the Twins to squeeze some value out of Liriano.
     
    The Atlanta Braves have a lot of pitching prospects in their top propsects and it would be nice for the Twins to add some depth to their minor league system in this area of weakness for the club. Another intriguing prospect could be Christian Bethancourt, a 20-year old catcher that has already made his way to the Double-A level. Baseball America had Bethancourt ranked as the ninth best prospect in the Braves organization so that might be a high cost for Liriano.
     

    Sano rediscovers his HR stroke, errors mounting


    After seeing a steady stream of offspeed pitches for most of the month of June, Miguel Sano rediscovered his home run swing during the last few games. He has hit three home runs in his last five times in the line-up and he is now leading the Midwest League with 18 home runs on the year. His recent hot streak has raised his average back above .240 after a rough couple of months where he hit under .220 in 191 at-bats. This is a welcome sign for fans looking for Sano to be the next big thing for the Twins organization.
     
    In a less positive note, Sano continues to struggle mightily in the field as he uses his big frame at third base. He went into last night's game with 28 errors for the season and he had to be pulled from the game after having adding another three errors to that total. Until he shows that he can improve at third base, there will continue to be questions about whether he can stick at the hot corner. His high prospect status means that he will move through the organization but he might need to shift to a less vital position on the field.
  17. Cody Christie
    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2ml1ZioYWw4/T_D48dTN0oI/AAAAAAAACh4/2iQJMPGHdhI/s320/mauer_willingham_640.jpg

    On Sunday afternoon, the 2012 MLB All-Star rosters were announced for the American League and the National League. There were a few different candidates that had the opportunity to be selected to be the Twins representative. Joe Mauer is near the top of the AL in a variety of batting categories and he plays a premium defensive position. Josh Willingham started off the season on quite the run and he might be the team MVP to this point. Since his promotion at the beginning of May, Scott Diamond has been the ace of the Twins pitching staff. Glen Perkins and Jared Burton have been dominant in their appearances out of the bullpen.
     
    In the end, the Twins will have one representative for the second year in a row. Joe Mauer was selected to his fifth career All-Star Game and he is the lone representative for his team much like Michael Cuddyer last season. There are three catchers on the AL roster so Mike Napoli of the Texas Rangers and Matt Wieters of the Baltimore Orioles will join Mauer. Napolit gets the start and Mauer and Wieters will be used in relief on a night where the temperature is suppose to be in the high 90s.
     
    When the announcement of the teams was made on Sunday, there was an uproar across the social media world that Mauer would get the only spot on the All-Star team for the Twins. Fans looked at Willingham and his high home run total and team-leading RBI total and they made the case that he should be on the team over Mauer. For the first month or so of the season, it looked like Willingham would be the only choice from the Twins roster. A rough month of May where he batted .220 brought his numbers back down to earth and might have pushed his first All-Star appearance out of reach.
     
    The outrage towards Mauer was painful to read in the moments following the announcement of the team. Twins President Dave St. Peter was left to defend Mauer in a few different tweets to angered fans.

    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qqozLmDtV6s/T_D0CwZJ_RI/AAAAAAAACgI/g7vtR23GbwM/s320/Picture+1.png

    It seemed like fans were attacking a player for his rough season in 2011 and not looking at the numbers that he has put up so far in 2012. He leads the entire AL in OBP and he ranks fifth in the AL in batting out of the players that have qualified for the leaderboard. According to FanGraphs version of WAR, Mauer has been equal to Willingham but Mauer is ranked number one among catchers. In comparison, Willingham ranks ninth among outfielders and the only outfielder with a lower WAR than him to make it was Curtis Granderson.
     
    For the second year in a row, the Twins are off to a poor start and it would be hard to imagine the team getting more than one representative to the Mid-Summer Classic. It would take a couple of magical seasons from Twins players to get more than one representative. If the Twins had gotten better starting pitching for the duration of the season, there is a good chance the team would be out of the cellar in the AL. This could mean that players like Willingham and Diamond could have joined Mauer in Kansas City. Even Mauer himself told reporters that he was upset that he would be making the trip from Minneapolis by himself.
     
    During the 2012 season, it has been disappointing to read and hear the hatred toward Mauer even though he is in the midst of a very good season. There have been plenty of double play balls hit to second base off of the bat of Mauer as he enters the second year of his monster deal. Only 35 of his 69 games have been spent behind the plate and he doesn't hit many home runs or rack up a ton of RBI. So for some people that consider themselves "fans" of the Twins, there will continue to be things to pick apart for the $23 million man.
     
    In a season that might already be lost, there is a long list of things to be frustrated about for the Twins and Mauer shouldn't be anywhere near the top of the list. The American League needed to fill a catching spot on the roster and the Twins had a player that was more than deserving of a place in the All-Star Game. If there had been some holes to fill in the outfield, the same case could have been made for Willingham. There seems to be a portion of fan base for the Twins that don't appreciate the greatness of the player they have the privilege to witness.
     
    Mauer deserves to be an All-Star even if a faction of the fan base doesn't think he should be there.
  18. Cody Christie
    Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    After a rough series with the White Sox, the Twins had an off day on Thursday to enjoy the Harmon Killebrew Foundation Golf Tournament and other activities in the Twin Cities. The team will pick up play this weekend with four games against the Kansas City Royals and that includes a day-night doubleheader on Saturday. At this point last season, the Twins made a run to pull themselves a little closer before the All-Star Break and this series could do the same thing for this year's club.
     
    Earlier in the week, a tragic piece of news came out of the organization. Paul Bargas, a 23-year old minor league pitcher in the Twins organization, passed away at far too young of an age. He came to the Twins from the Rockies as part of the Jose Morales deal a couple of seasons ago but he never pitched in the Twins system after being diagnosed with brain cancer. The Star Tribune did a wonderful piece on him in the winter and if there is one thing you read off of this list, it should be this article.
     

    One of the most exciting developments of the week has to be former Twins player Lew Ford joining the Twitter world.
    There could be plenty of teams looking to trade with the Twins in the next month and that includes the Rangers, the Blue Jays, and the Phillies.
    With Francisco Liriano's hot play in recent weeks, it's hard to imagine what his value would be on the trade market.
    After the Yankees lost two lefties out of their rotation, it might be time to get to business on a trade for Francisco Liriano.
    WWTD? (What will Terry do?) I'm glad you asked...
    The Phillies are shopping Jim Thome to AL teams but a return trip to the Twin Cities doesn't seem to make much sense.
    The Twins Daily crew is holding a "Fracas on the Field" event in August and it sounds like it will be a great evening of baseball related activities.


    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ICyjEpOTEYw/T-0o_wLj7xI/AAAAAAAACeY/ppnoGjUMZh4/s320/Fracas-on-the-Field.jpg

     

    Michael Cuddyer and the Rockies are near the bottom of the NL but it looks like the former Twins player won't be traded before the deadline.
    Do Valencia's shortcomings hasten the arrival of Sano? The short answer is no but he has plenty to work on in the next couple years.
    The first five rounds of the MLB Draft can make or break an organization and the Twins need some home runs out of the 2012 Class.
    The jersey worn by Don Larsen in the most famous perfect game in history is going to be up for auction.
    Some writers don't think Brian Dozier should still be in the majors after all of his struggles this season.
    Twins fans will remember the bad call made on the Joe Mauer hit down the line in the playoffs and now there was another bad call at Yankee Stadium.
    A minor league team lost a game in extra-innings after a player failed to touch the plate on a home run.
    MLB attendance is way up this season but the Twins have the biggest drop of any club in fans attending their games.
    Frank Viola's daughter, Brittany, made the US Olympic team as a diver and she is quite the athlete.
    Here is a video used during the competition where the younger Viola talks about her dad's time with the Twins.
    Who should be the Twins representative in the All-Star Game? There are a few candidates.

    My Weekly Rundown:
     

    Monday: Searching for a Revere home run
    Tuesday: Tuesday Morning Tidbits
    Tuesday's Trip through the Minors
    Thursday: Filling out the 2012 All-Star Ballot
    Diamond and Plouffe talk to Season Ticket Holders

    Video of the Week: Mike Trout made a tremendous catch earlier this week and you should check it out if you haven't seen it. It looked very similar to a famous catch made by Torii Hunter in the 2002 All-Star Game in Milwaukee. Granted Trout's was in a game that actually meant something but Hunter's catch was in front of a major audience. Both videos can be found at the link provided.
  19. Cody Christie
    Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan
    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CmydG0JkmKs/T-0AJJlItXI/AAAAAAAACco/K4BK-a6NIYg/s1600/300_fanforum.jpg

    As part of the Twins off day on Thursday, the Twins held their sixth Fan Forum with current third baseman Trevor Plouffe and left-handed pitcher Scott Diamond. This conference call allows season ticket holders, "On-Deck" members, and group organizers to ask a variety of questions in the hour long event. There were also multiple prizes given away including on-field passes, VIP parking, the opportunity to raise the Twins Territory Flag, and some autographed items.
     
    There were some interesting quotes from both players over the course of the night but one quote from Diamond stuck out to me. The fan that asked the question wanted to know what players on the Twins had made the biggest impact on their careers. Since Diamond is a pitcher, he mentioned Carl Pavano and a surprising name, Kevin Slowey. He made note of the fact that Slowey taught him different ways to think about his approach to pitching. After Slowey's rough exit from the organization, it is interesting to hear his impact on what is now the team's best starting pitcher.
     
    Diamond also talked highly about the welcoming environment in the Twins clubhouse when he joined the team last year. He said this was an improvement over what he had seen in the Braves organization. Later in the call, Diamond talked about using the other veteran players on ways to approach hitters in the American League. Other hurlers like Brian Duensing and Carl Pavano have helped to familiarize him with their opponents.
     
    On more than one occasion, Diamond praised the work of Rick Anderson to help him make his turnaround. He said that "Andy" gets him mentally prepared for each start in a variety of ways. There are times that Diamond can try and pitch to the scouting reports too much and this takes away from his game. Anderson helps Diamond by keeping him focused on his style of pitching and it seems to have worked so far.
     
    Here are some other random tidbits from Diamond's answers on Thursday night. Fellow left-hander Andy Pettitte is someone that Diamond admires because of their similar throwing style.His favorite park to pitch in is the Rogers Centre because it is close to his family in Canada. On his off days, Diamond likes to spend time outside and on the water. He came from a National League organization but he likes the DH. He said it takes away from his pitching when he has to think about all that goes into batting.
     
    There have obviously been some changes to Plouffe's approach at the plate during the 2012 season. While Diamond talked highly of Anderson, Plouffe had nothing but praise for Joe Valvra and the hard work that he has done. He credited Valvra with making his swing better and for having a vast knowledge about every pitcher the Twins face. Part of the changes for Plouffe have come in the last week. He referred to the last seven days as "slider mania" because of the way pitchers have changed their approach with him at the plate. This is just one more thing for him and Valvra to work on.
     
    One of the poll questions for the night was about who the fans thought would lead the team in home runs by the end of the year. A laughable choice in the live poll was Joe Mauer and needless to say, he didn't finish first in the balloting. When Plouffe was asked about his battle with Josh Willingham for leading the team in home runs, he said that he doesn't care who ends up on top. If Diamond and Plouffe had their way, both Plouffe and Willingham would finish tied with atleast 70 home runs.
     
    There are some other things that Plouffe has been focusing on as he finds himself in the line-up on a daily basis. Since he hasn't played much third base in the past, he is putting in a lot of work at the hot corner. There are new angles to the ball that he has to get use to at third. He has been working on his defense a lot and he stressed the fact that his defense is an important part of his game. Plouffe wants to be a good defensive player at third and not just an average defender.
     
    Here are some other tidbits from Plouffe's answers during the conversation. He has been taking more first pitches this season so he can work on tracking pitches. This has especially been the case with pitchers he has never seen before. He loves to play golf on his off day. Today he went with Anthony Swarzak, Brian Dozier, and Drew Butera. Apparently Drew Butera is a stud on the golf course. His favorite stadium to play in is Angels Stadium because his family is from the area. There were plenty of jokes about Plouffe being engaged and how daughters across Twins Territory are up in arms about him being off of the market.
  20. Cody Christie
    http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f_PHNj070Po/T-oBZjPoBhI/AAAAAAAACY4/Wy7rJR20WXA/s320/2012+All+Star+ballot.jpg

    Frequent visitors to this site might have noticed the logo on the right side of the page for the Baseball Bloggers Alliance. There are a few different obligations that come along being part of this organization. Through out the year, the members vote on who should be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, all of the end of the season awards (MVP, Rookie of the Year, etc), and various other things.
     
    It is almost time for the All-Star rosters to be announced and that means it is time to post the players that I think should be starting in the Mid-Summer Classic. There are some tight races in the balloting but lucky enough for me I don't have to stick to what the ballots are saying.
     
    Here is the look at my starters for the American League and the National League in the 2012 All-Star Game in Kansas City.
     

    2012 American League All-Star Ballot


     
    C: Joe Mauer, Twins- He ranks in the top five for batting average and he is near the top of the list for highest on-base percentage in the entire American League. It looks like Mike Napoli is going to easily win the fan voting and his postseason last year was very good. According to fWAR, Napoli is only the fifth best catcher in the AL and Mauer ranks number one.
     
    1B: Paul Konerko, White Sox- He is off to a tremendous start in the 2012 for the White Sox and he ranks in the top two in the AL in batting average and OBP. There are some other candidates in the AL like Mark Teixeira, Prince Fielder, and Albert Pujols but Konerko deserves the start. At 36-years old, it would be cool for him to get a start in an All-Star game in the Midwest since he has played his entire career in that region.
     
    2B: Robinson Cano, Yankees- There are some very good candidates in the American League at second base but Cano is clearly the best among the group. He plays outstanding defense and combines this with a powerful swing. In recent weeks, he has looked like the best hitter in the American League. The 2011 Home Run Derby Champion will be defending his title as the AL Team Captain in the event for 2012.
     
    3B: Adrian Beltre, Rangers- Mike Moustakas and Brett Lawrie might be fighting over this All-Star spot in the coming years. But for right now, there are a couple of veteran players that deserve the honor. Miguel Cabrera has moved back to third base and he is considered one of the best hitters in the game. My vote goes to Beltre for his overall performance at the plate and in the field.
     
    SS: Elvis Andrus, Rangers- It seems like the AL shortstop position will belong to Derek Jeter until he decides to retire. That's fine for one of the most consistent players of the current generation. His defense pulls down his value at shortstop and he didn't even want to show up at the game last year so I am looking at other candidates. Andrus and Beltre combine for quite the left side of the infield for the Rangers and they should both be starting in Kansas City.
     
    OF: Mike Trout, Angels- Trout is having an MVP caliber season for the Los Angeles Angels and he is only 20-years old. The rookie outfield has shown tremendous speed, defense, and power after starting the year in the minor leagues. The biggest downfall to his All-Star resume is the fact that he isn't on the ballot. Fans will have to write his name in but he could get voted in as a reserve player.
     
    OF: Josh Hamilton, Rangers- For the first portion of the season, the Rangers looked like they were going to run away with the American League title for the third year in a row. Since that time, they have come back down to earth but they are still having a very good campaign. In a team full of very good players, Hamilton is near the top of the list which is good for him since he will be a free agent at the end of the year.
     
    OF: Adam Jones, Orioles- The Orioles have been sneaking around near the top of the division in the AL East for most of the season. Mr. Jones has been one of the biggest reasons for some of the team's success with some very good offensive numbers. He plays center field during the season; but in this outfield, he could move to a corner spot and let Trout take over the center field duties.
     
    DH: David Ortiz, Red Sox- Even with all of the craziness in Boston, Ortiz is on pace to have his best season hitting for power since 2007. Michael Young is piling up some votes since it seems that fans from the Rangers are stuffing the ballot boxes. This spot should still belong to Oritz but it is interesting to see Adam Dunn in third after his terrible season last year.
     
    SP: Justin Verlander, Tigers- The reigning AL MVP and Cy Young winner doesn't have as many wins in 2012 but he is still having a very good year. Chris Sale and CC Sabathia could also be considered for the starting job but Verlander would be the front runner on my ballot. Over the last full season, he has been the best pitcher in the league.
     

    2012 National League All-Star Ballot


     
    C: Carlos Ruiz, Phillies- The fans look to be in favor of starting one of the last two World Series winning catcher behind the plate, Buster Posey or Yadier Molina, which are still good choices. On the other hand, Ruiz has been outstanding in a Phillies line-up that has been full of injuries this season. It would be a shame to see Ruiz left off of the NL roster but there are some very good catchers in the Senior Circuit.
     
    1B: Joey Votto, Reds- He might be the best hitter in the entire game of baseball and there should be no doubt about him starting at first base. Many of the other big names from the NL at first base have shifted to the AL. Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder, and Adrian Gonzalez have all left for bigger markets and this leave Votto as the hands down candidate for the next few years.
     
    2B: Aaron Hill, Diamondbacks- How can Dan Uggla and his .240 batting average be leading the vote for second base? That just seems wrong and his power numbers aren't much better than the rest of the field. At a weak position in the NL, I will give the nod to Hill. He isn't even in the top five in the fan balloting but he has the highest BA, OBP, and OPS of all second baseman in the NL.
     
    3B: David Wright, Mets- The Mets have surprised a lot of people by still being in contention at this point in the season. It helps to have some outstanding pitching from RA Dickey but Wright looks to be an MVP candidate at third base. His home run total has been lower since the Mets moved to Citi Field but he seems to have adjusted to his new home and he is in the hunt for the batting title.
     
    SS: Starlin Castro, Cubs- Much like at second base in the NL, there are no standout candidates at shortstop. Jed Lawrie is leading in fWAR and he is helped by his 14 home runs but doing this on a team in Houston isn't helping his cause. Troy Tulowitzki has missed a chunk of the year with an injury. Castro sits near the top at this position in a variety of categories so he gets my vote.
     
    OF: Ryan Braun, Brewers- After his MVP performance last year, Braun is not showing any ill effects from his steroid situation and the loss of Prince Fielder. His production has been among the best in the NL even with some nagging injuries throughout the season. While Matt Kemp has missed time with his injuries, Braun has fought through his pain and been in the line-up for most of the year.
     
    OF: Michael Bourn, Braves- Three of the Braves starting outfielders could be up for the starting job in the All-Star Game with Jason Heyward, Martin Prado, and Bourn playing at a very high level. Bourn has used his speed to be a threat on the base paths and he ranks second to Braun in the fWAR for outfielders in the NL. If Matt Kemp wasn't hurt, this spot would likely go to him but an injury to Kemp means that someone else has to take his place.
     
    OF: Andrew McCutchen, Pirates- For the second year in a row, the Pirates are surprising some people with their first half play in the NL Central. The man powering the Pirates on the offensive side of the ball is Mr. McCutchen. After signing a big contract extension in the offseason, he is showing his team that he was worth the money by putting together his best season as a professional.
     
    SP: Stephen Strasburg, Nationals- There are quite a few National League hurlers having outstanding seasons so it is going to be tough for Tony La Russa to pick out the man on the mound for the first couple of innings. RA Dickey has been on an incredible run, Matt Cain threw a perfect game, and Zack Greinke is in the middle of another fantastic season. If MLB wants to add a little more excitement to the game, Strasburg should be the man and it helps that he is having a Cy Young caliber season for one of the best teams in the NL.
  21. Cody Christie
    With all of the talk before the game about Twins hitters destroying Gavin Floyd, it was bound to happen that he was going to put up a good performance. Over the course of seven shut out innings, he struck out nine Twins batters and only gave up five hits. Liam Hendriks had his best start of the season throwing over six innings to the tune of three runs with an Alex Rios home run being the big dagger.
     
    In the ninth inning, the Twins made things interesting by loading the bases with two outs in the frame. Jamey Carroll knocked in a couple runs with a single to cut the lead to 3-2 but that would be the final score. There was just too much Gavin Floyd on this night.
     
    Tyler Robertson became the third player to make his debut for the Twins this season (Brian Dozier and Cole DeVries). He had a nasty slider that he used to strikeout all three batters that he faced. In his last ten games with the Red Wings, he never struck out more than two batters in one appearance so this was quite the night for Mr. Robertson.
     
    ROCHESTER 3, LEHIGH VALLEY 10
     
    After finishing a good stretch of play outside of the their division, the Red Wings began a stretch of 14 straight games against division foes before the All-Star Break. It didn't get off to the best start with the IronPigs compiling 18 hits in the game against Red Wings pitchers. Former Twins farmhand Jason Pridie had four hits including three extra-base hits and Chase Utley had two hits in his last rehab start before joining the Phillies.
     
    The original starter for the Red Wings on Tuesday night was suppose to be Matt Maloney but he was placed on the 7-Day DL with a strained left elbow. This meant Brendan Wise was inserted into the rotation for his third spot start of the year. Wise lasted two innings but he only allowed one earned run out of the six runs that crossed the plate during his time on the mound. Caleb Thielbar tossed a good fifth inning by striking out the side while lowering his ERA to 1.59.
     
    On the offensive side of the ball, Matt Carson had a three hit night to raise his batting average eight points. Pedro Florimon continued his recent hot streak by going 2-for-4 including his second triple of the year. In his last 10 games, Florimon has five multi-hit games and he is hitting .333 during that stretch.
     
    Before the game, right-handed pitcher Luis Perdomo was promoted to Rochester from New Britain. He had a very good 2.75 ERA with 43 strikeouts and 16 walks in 39.1 innings for the Rock Cats.
     
    NEW BRITAIN 5, TRENTON 4
     
    The Rock Cats found themselves in a nail biter on Tuesday evening against the Trenton Thunder. Two of the biggest names in the Twins farm system were in the middle of the action for New Britain. Aaron Hicks went 3-for-4 with an RBI, a run scored, and his third triple of the year. It was his second three hit game in the last six games for Mr. Hicks. Oswaldo Arcia only had one hit in the game but it was a 2-run home run, his first long ball at the Double-A level.
     
    Aaron Thompson started the game for New Britain and won his second game of the season. He threw 6.2 innings by allowing eight hits and four earned runs. It was his second victory in as many outings. Dakota Watts and Bruce Pugh were outstanding in relief by throwing a combined 2.1 innings and striking out five while allowing a single hit. It was the first hold of the year for Watts since he was just called up to New Britain and the second save of the year for Pugh.
     
    FORT MYERS 7, TAMPA 6 (GAME 1, 8 innings)
     
    In what was suppose to be a seven inning contest for the first half of a double header, the allotted number of innings was not enough for this game. The Yankees jumped out to a big first inning lead by scoring four runs off of Madison Boer. He has struggled since being promoted to Fort Myers from Beloit to the tune of an 8.41 ERA in 40.2 innings pitched.
     
    The Miracle bested the big inning from the Yankees with a five run bottom of the second that was helped by three Yankee errors. Danny Rams went 3-for-4 with two runs scored to raise his batting average to .186 for the season. Daniel Santana, Levi Michael, and Jairo Perez each had two hits to help the Miracle offense. One of the surprises from the game was the fact that the Miracle had 11 hits and none of them were for extra bases.
     
    Danny Rams singled to get the bottom of the eighth inning off on the right track. Andy Leer stepped in next and was hit by a pitch to set up runners at first and second. After a sacrifice bunt from Angel Morales to advance the runners, Daniel Santana was intentionally walked to fill the bags. Levi Michael stepped into the box with one out and the chance to be a hero. His single to left field started the celebration for the Miracle.
     
    FORT MYERS 5, TAMPA 6 (GAME 2, 7 innings)
     
    After the Miracle fell behind 4-0 in the first two innings, it was time for Fort Myers to mount their comeback. Michael Gonzales started the rally with a double and the bases were loaded after singles from Anderson Hidalgo and Daniel Santana. Levi Michael came up with another big hit to make the game one run closer. A throwing error with Danny Ortiz batting allowed two more runs to score and Kyle Knudson tied the game on a fielders choice.
     
    Unfortunately for the Miracle, Michael Tonkin gave up a solo home run in the top of the seventh and Fort Myers wasn't able to mount another comeback. It was the first loss of the year for Tonkin in his third appearance since making the trip from Beloit. Jose Gonzalez was asked to make the spot start for the Miracle, his first start of the year. He threw three innings and gave up four runs on four hits while striking out two batters. In his first appearance since being promoted, AJ Achter pitched three innings and allowed one run to cross the plate.
     
    BELOIT 8, KANE COUNTY 0
     
    On this night the man in charge on the mound was Matthew Summers. Over the course of nine innings, he scattered three hits and struck out five. It was his seventh win of the year and the fourth round pick in the 2011 draft as he tries to catch Jason Wheeler for the team lead. He is tied for fourth in the Midwest League in wins and he has thrown six or more innings in each of his last four starts.
     
    Behind the strong outing from Summers, the Snappers were in control of this game from the start by scoring in each of the first two innings and never looking back. Nate Roberts was leading the charge for the Snappers offense with a 3-for-5 night including a home run and a double with three RBI. Matthew Koch did his best to match the night put together by Roberts with a 3-for-4 evening with a home run and two RBI.
     
    Even with the big offensive output, Miguel Sano struggled by going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. His batting average is down to .236 for the season and he hasn't hit for many extra-base hits as the Midwest League has adjusted to his powerful swing.
     
    ELIZABETHTON 9, BRISTOL 0
     
    A big offensive night for the E-Twins was lead by Michael Quesada and Stephen Wickens each accumulating three hits in the contest. Wickens had his first triple of the year while driving in two and Quesada had his fourth double in as many games played this season. Adam Walker hit his first home run of the year in the fifth inning.
     
    Corey Kimes pitched five shutout innings with five strikeouts to pick up his first victory of the year. Steven Evans tossed two innings and only let two runners reach base with three strikeouts. It has been an up and down year for Evans with him pitching well in two outings and getting roughed up in the other two appearances. Brett Lee finished the last couple innings for the E-Twins by surrendering a couple hits with four strikeouts.
     
    GCL TWINS , GCL ORIOLES (GAME 1)
    GCL TWINS , GCL ORIOLES (GAME 2)
    The wonders of Tropical Storm Debbie have made it difficult for the GCL Twins to get any games played this week. At this early junction in the season, the team doesn't really need a ton of rest either. Hopefully, the GCL Twins will be able to get back on the field tomorrow... fingers crossed.
     
    ---
     
    Players of the Day for Tuesday, June 26, 2012

     
    Pitcher of the Day- Matthew Summers (9 shutout innings)


    [TABLE=class: tr-caption-container, align: center]

    [TD=align: center]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E3T8ltNlU4g/T-p3xZYnpiI/AAAAAAAACaw/mzhkFvmMPvA/s320/4fbe5dc5a5c66.jpg[/TD]


    [TD=class: tr-caption, align: center]Photo courtesy of The Beloit Daily News[/TD]

    [/TABLE]
     

    Hitter of the Day- Levi Michael (4-for-8, 3 RBI, Walk-Off Hit)
    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cfMooX0G0nU/T-p4OnmHUiI/AAAAAAAACa4/hioU-yzjRo8/s320/LeviMichael.jpg


     




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    A Look Ahead- Wednesday, June 27th Schedule
     
    Rochester at Lehigh Valley- RHP Samuel Deduno
    New Britain vs Trenton- RHP BJ Hermsen
    Fort Myers vs Tampa- LHP Pat Dean
    Beloit at Kane County- LHP David Hurlbut
    Elizabethton vs Bristol- RHP Angel Mata
    GCL Twins at GCL Rays- TBA
     
    ---
     
    If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, leave them in the comments section and Seth or I will try to answer them.
  22. Cody Christie
    The Twins got their homestand off to a good start against the AL Central leading White Sox. An outstanding performance from Francisco Liriano was more than enough to lead the Twins to the victory. It was a milestone win for the Twins franchise in their new home as it was the team's 100th victory at Target Field. In that time span, the team is only a couple games over .500 so it would be nice to get that winning percentage a little higher.
    It's another Tuesday so that means I will be covering all of the minor league action for the Twins later tonight. Check back as I cover all the games from the International League to the Gulf Coast League. But for now, enjoy these tidbits on a Tuesday morning.


     
    Thome mulling return for 2013

    After a dramatic pinch hit walk-off home run over the weekend, it seems like Jim Thome might be ageless. Following the game, he discussed the possibility that the 2012 season would not be his last and that he has been thinking about coming back for 2013. He will turn 42-years old in August and that means that during next season he would turn 43. This isn't exactly the optimal age for a big league player but there could be a role for the aging star.
    Thome has spent the majority of his career in the American League where he has the ability to be the designated hitter if that is what his team asks from him. He spent most of the last two seasons by hitting blasts for the Twins but he wants a title before he retires and gets ready for his Hall of Fame induction. This brought him to the Phillies and the National League for 2012. So far the experiment has not gone perfectly but he has looked very good in interleague play when he could be the DH.
    For Thome to come back in 2013, there will need to be a team that has at-bats for him in the American League at the designated hitter spot. He will also want to be on a team that has a chance to contend so he has the opportunity for a championship. This means there will only be a few teams that will reasonably have a shot at Thome but it would be nice to see him end his career with a title.

    Robertson travels the worn road from Rochester



    With Matt Capps shoulder injury flaring up, the Twins need to find a replacement for him on the 25-man roster. With Brian Duensing inserted into the rotation and Glen Perkins sharing time in the closer role, a left-handed relief pitcher was going to be key. Tyler Robertson made the trip from Rochester join the Minnesota Twins and his first appearance will mark his major league debut.
    Robertson is the tenth player to be called up from Rochester so far this season and the third to make his debut. Shortstop Brian Dozier and pitcher Cole DeVries already made their debuts in 2012. The other players to be promoted this year include catcher Drew Butera, pitcher Scott Diamond, pitcher Liam Hendriks,outfielder Darin Mastroianni, first baseman Chris Parmelee, outfielder Ben Revere, and pitcher P.J. Walters.
    Unfortunately for some, the road has gone both ways. Third baseman Danny Valencia and infielder Sean Burroughs started the season with the Twins but have been sent to Rochester. Clete Thomas and Lester Oliveros got into a few games for the Twins before being sent to Triple-A. It is nice to see that most of the positional players have been moved because of performance and not because of injury like in 2011.
    http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4Hj8P7usxcc/T-mylQNE0WI/AAAAAAAACXI/DbceWWsxm4I/s320/20120613__Buxton,+Byron.jpg




    Buxton debuts in the Gulf Coast League



    The Twins gave their top draft pick a couple of days to acclimate to life as a professional before he made his debut for the GCL Twins on Friday. It has not been a perfect start for the 18-year old as he has failed to get a hit in any of his appearances thus far. He has been penciled in as the lead-off hitter for all of his games so it looks like the Twins want him to get as many plate appearances as possible. It also helps that he has blazing fast speed at the top of the order and
    he has been clocked at 4.15 seconds from home to first on a groundout. In his first two games in the GCL, Buxton faced pitchers with at least some professional experience. At minimum, the pitchers he stepped in against had thrown in the Dominican Summer League and some of the hurlers had already made one trip through the GCL. So it's safe to say that Buxton isn't facing rural Georgia pitching any more and it might take a little bit for him to adjust this new level of competition.


     
    Tropical storm Debbie has caused the GCL Twins to miss at least yesterday's game so hopefully Buxton will be able to get back on the field. This way he can get the first of many hits out of the way and be on the way to a great career. There were some fans declaring him a bust after his first game where he went hitless but it is way to early to know how good Buxton can or cannot be. He is still one of the top prospects in the entire organization.
  23. Cody Christie
    Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~

    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yaAI7GTYUMk/T-fh2GGYd_I/AAAAAAAACVY/tJSPVaCpYMA/s400/RevereHR.jpg

    It's not like searching for El Dorado or the Fountain of Youth because people have seen it before. Unlike the sightings of Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster, there is more than tangible evidence that this is not just a fluke of nature. It happened as recent as last season for Triple-A Rochester but there still might need to be an expedition to find a never before seen sight at the big league level, a Ben Revere home run.
     
    To find a Revere home run, it is important to know when these sightings have occurred in the past. He joined the Twins as a first round pick out of high school in 2007 and played 50 games for the GCL Twins without putting a ball over the fence. His first home run came in the next season for the Beloit Snappers and it would be his only home run for the year. It was the first sighting of a Revere home run but there would be more to come.
     
    The 2009 season would see Revere's highest number of home runs for one season in his professional career. He managed two round trippers in 121 games for the Fort Myers Miracle. This power surge along with a solid overall season helped him to be named the 2009 Twins Minor League Player of the Year. There were glimmers of hope that a Revere home run might be easier to spot in the future.
     
    In 2010, Revere would spend most of the season with the New Britain Rock Cats before being called up in September for his major league debut. With the Rock Cats, he managed one home run in 94 games but his 13 games at the big league level never produced a dinger. The young outfielder had made it to the big leagues by age 22 but when would his first big fly be seen? No one knew.
     
    For the 2011 season, it was time to get serious in the hunt for a Revere home run. He got close on multiple occasions to notching an inside-the-park home run for the Twins. Other obstacles got in the way of this becoming his first major league home run. Revere hit one home run during the 2011 calender year but it came while he was wearing a Rochester Red Wings jersey. Plenty of opportunities but still homerless at the big league level.
     
    After being sent back and forth between Rochester and Minnesota to start the 2012 season, it looks like Revere is here to stay. When another player hit a home run this weekend, Revere became the only current regular MLB player with over 100 games played to not have hit a home run. Following Sunday's game, he has played 168 contests at the big league level with 633 plate appearances as the search is still on for that elusive home run.
     
    There was a similar home run drought that Twins fans got to follow in 2007 with Jason Tyner. He came to the Twins organization with 245 games and 778 at-bats already accumulated at the major league level without a home run. The streak would be stretch to 1,220 at-bats without a long ball until the third inning of a game at Jacobs Field in Cleveland. Jake Westbrook was the pitcher that gave up the home run to Tyner so it is unfortunate for Revere that the Twins don't play the Cardinals at some point this year.
     
    During every season in his professional career in which Revere has played over 50 games, he has managed to get a minimum of one home run. When the search is over and he hits his first home run, a streak will end and there will be a big smile across the face of Mr. Revere. Let's just hope that the search doesn't take another 600 or so at-bats because Tyner would tell Revere that there's a lot less pressure after the first tater. But then again, Tyner wouldn't get another one at the major league level.
     
    So the search will continue, until a Revere home run can be found...
  24. Cody Christie
    Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Last night's Twins game got ugly in later portions of the game with Jeff Manship giving up some bombs. One of the home runs even took one bounce and was out of the stadium. Overall, it wasn't the best series but the Twins did manage to pull out one victory. Francisco Liriano and Liam Hendriks put together one of their best starts of the year in the series and Josh Willingham had a late inning home run to lead the team to victory.
     
    Now the team turns their sights to a very good Cincinnati Reds club, their last interleague opponent of the year. The Twins are going to be forced to deal with arguably the best overall hitter in the game, Joey Votto. There could also be opportunities to face one of the hardest throwers in baseball, Arolidis Chapman. For Twins fans, it is fun to see some of the best talent in the National League.
     
    Before the Twins begin their series with the Reds, make sure to check out some of the best baseball writing from across Twins Territory and the baseball world.
     
     

    Prep players can take some time to develop in the minor leagues but it is important to be patient with high schoolers taken in the draft.
    For the first time in quite awhile, Francisco Liriano looked good on Wednesday night. It could be from the fact that he seems to have rediscovered his slider.
    The short-season rookie leagues have started for the Twins so make sure to check out this preview of the Elizabethton Twins and this preview of the GCL Twins.
    Nick Blackburn could be the veteran presence in the starting rotation next year and that's what makes his struggles so frustrating.
    There have to be some reasons for hope with the Twins, right?
    Ben Revere seems to have played himself into the long term plans for the Twins and he might not be a placeholder anymore.
    According to Kyle Gibson's Twitter account, he is back on track to appear in a minor league game on July 10th.
    There are reports out that the Twins are looking for pitching and according to Terry Ryan, "We need pitching, and we need it bad."
    Out of all Twins minor league players, Oswaldo Arcia might be having the best season and he was promoted to Double-A earlier in the week.


    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-85HV9Hhf7Mw/T-Rr8nE87fI/AAAAAAAACTo/YadU7Y1DEY4/s320/arcia_display_image.jpg

     

    One the best parts of All-Star weekend is the Future's Game and the rosters were announced on Thursday. The Twins will be represented by Oswaldo Arcia.
    Two former MLB Greats will be managing the teams for the Future's Game so that should be fun.
    It has been a little over a year since Twins Territory lost Harmon Killebrew and a new book has been released to chronicle his life.
    With the Rockies struggling to win games, they are trying a radical concept by having a four-man pitching staff and only allowing starters to throw 75 pitches.
    Jason Marquis is doing very well after leaving the Twins and it might help that he is back in the National League
    Has Joe Nathan become the best closer in the game?
    Players for the Arizona Diamondbacks had some fun opening packs of Justin Bieber cards last week and now an autographed card pulled by the players is up for auction.
    Bill Murray is the co-owner of a minor league baseball team and this video gives an in-depth look at his interactions with the team.

    My Weekly Rundown:
     

    Monday: Twins are behind in the "Era of Pitching"
    Tuesday: Tuesday Morning Tidbits
    Wednesday: Bullpen overuse could hurt by season's end
    Wednesday's Wild Night in the Minors

    Video of the Week: Joel Peralta was ejected earlier this week for having a foreign substance on his glove. It was quite the sight to watch how the entire incident played out and it might have conjured up memories of a different moment for Twins fans. In 1987, Joe Niekro was on the mound for the Twins
    .
  25. Cody Christie
    It is officially the first day of summer and that means action will be heating up across the baseball world. The Twins found themselves in a pitchers duel in Pittsburgh with Francisco Liriano throwing one of his best games of the year. A rough seventh inning meant that Liriano wasn't able to pick up the win but a late inning home run from Josh Willingham pushed the Twins to a 2-1 victory.
     
    Some injuries to the Rochester bullpen forced the Twins to make some transactions in the farm system. Carlos Gutierrez (shoulder) and Lester Oliveros (elbow) are both going to miss time for the Red Wings and this means Bobby Lanigan and Caleb Thielbar will be joining Rochester from New Britain. Edgar Ibarra is moving from Fort Myers to New Britain and taking his place on the Miracle roster is Michael Tonkin. Cole Johnson was the other transaction on Wednesday as he moves from the E-Twins to the Snappers.
     
    The Twins officially signed RHP Luke Bard, taken 42nd overall in the 2012 draft. With his signing, the Twins have inked their first 10 picks in the draft. This is a good sign and it seems to show that players are more willing to sign early with the new rules in the CBA.
     
    Don't forget to check out the Twins Minor League Weekly Podcast tomorrow night at 9:00 pm. Seth Stohs should have plenty of topics to discuss with the transactions mentioned above and the start of the short-season leagues.
     
    ROCHESTER 7, DURHAM 6
    It was quite the back and forth contest against the Durham Bulls in Rochester with the Red Wings managing to come out victorious. With Rochester leading by one in the top of the ninth, the Bulls managed to score two runs and take the lead back. In the bottom of the ninth, Tsuyoshi Nishioka started the inning by cracking a double. After a sacrifice bunt from Pedro Florimon, Wilkin Ramirez stepped into the box and fell into a 0-2 count. The next pitch was hit over the fence for a two-run walk-off home run and the fans got to go home happy.
     
    Cole DeVries had started the game and he lasted 6.1 innings by giving up four runs on 11 hits. Tyler Robertson picked up his second victory of the year after he got the last two outs of the ninth inning. Brian Dinkelman had three hits with an RBI to help the offense. In the second inning, Matt Carson hit his fifth home run on the year and he has three home runs in the last four games.
     
    NEW BRITAIN 4, ALTOONA 9
     
    Gerrit Cole, the number one pick in the 2011 MLB Draft, made his debut at Double-A on Wednesday night. Unfortunately for the Rock Cats, he didn't have any issues with the transition to a higher league and threw five innings while giving up two runs and striking out six. He was also backed up by plenty of run support so this made his first victory at this level a little easier.
     
    Brett Jacobson was charged with seven earned runs in three innings on the mound. He walked five batters and gave up multiple home runs. Aaron Hicks had his first multiple hit game in his last ten contests and this included his ninth double and second triple of the year. Chris Colabello got half of the team's RBI with his two singles in the game. In his second game since being promoted, Oswaldo Arcia had his first hit, a double in the eighth inning.
     
    FORT MYERS 7, JUPITER 3
    A solid offensive night was put together by the Miracle on Wednesday evening in Jupiter. They put up seven runs on 12 hits to back a good start from Madison Boer. In five innings of work, Boer surrendered two runs on five hits and struck out four. Ricky Bowen did a good job in relief by almost pitching 2 innings and only giving up a hit. For Boer, it was his third win of the year with all three of those wins coming in June.
     
    Five batters for the Miracle had multiple hit nights with Kyle Knudson leading the way with a 3-for-5 night. Andy Leer knocked in a couple runs with his two hits and he hit his six double of the year. The only other extra-base hit came off of the bat of Danny Rams, who also scored two runs in the game.
     
    BELOIT (All-Star Break)
     
    The Snappers are enjoying their All-Star Break and will resume play on Friday night with a series in Cedar Rapids. After qualifying for the playoffs in the first half of the season, it will be interesting to see how the Snappers come out in the second half.
     
    ELIZABETHTON 10, DANVILLE 0
     
    The story on this night should be the pitcher that started the game for the E-Twins. Ricardo Arevalo, a 21-year old pitcher from Venezuela, has pitched in the Twins organization for the last three years for the DSL Twins and the GCL Twins. In those three years, he had never been able to pick up a victory on the mound but that all changed on Wednesday. He threw five shutout innings and the bullpen was able to cover the rest of the game for his first professional win.
     
    In this contest, the E-Twins found plenty of offense with multiple extra base hits on the way to double digits being scored by the club. There were four triples in the game for the E-Twins and Niko Goodrum hit two of those three baggers with three runs batted in. Rory Rhodes had three hits and Michael Quesada managed his first two doubles in the young season.
     
    GCL TWINS 6, GCL RAYS 2
     
    A strong start from Josue Montanez helped the GCL Twins to get out to an early lead on the GCL Rays. Montanez tossed four scoreless innings while striking out six and allowing a single hit. Both runs for the Rays were scored off of Markus Solbach in his one inning of work.
     
    The Rays sloppy defense helped the Twins to a big bottom of the third inning. Three consecutive errors by the Rays fielders allowed the Twins to score four runs in the frame. Aderlin Mejia was 3-for-4 in the game with his second double of the year. Bryan Haar added a double of his own while going 2-for-3 with two RBI.
     
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    Players of the Day for Wednesday, June 20, 2012
     

    Hitter of the Day- Niko Goodrum
    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xR7sglofICU/T-KFFf6JTkI/AAAAAAAACRw/Q6SnlZrGv3U/s1600/Goodrum-Niko.jpg


     



    Pitcher of the Day- Ricardo Arevalo (1st Professional Win)
     
    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1yonnoNr2ZI/T-KFZ1cx_KI/AAAAAAAACR4/i2Tl1oaML90/s320/elizabethtontwins.jpg


     

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    A Look Ahead- Thursday, June 21st Schedule
     
    Rochester vs Durham- LHP Matt Maloney
    New Britain at Altoona- LHP Aaron Thompson
    Fort Myers vs St. Lucie-LHP Pat Dean
    Beloit (All-Star Break)
    Elizabethon at Danville- LHP Corey Kimes
    GCL Twins at GCL Rays- TBA
     
    ---
    If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, leave them in the comments section and Seth or I will try to answer them.
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